02: Forever Second
by Maririn
Summary: 1x2 Preventers Agent Duo Maxwell is well known as the former Gundum Pilot 02. Often overlooked and underestimated, he comes in second in many things: reputation, recognition and love. This story follows his unique post-war relationship with Heero Yuy as witnessed through the eyes of a young, unnamed rookie Preventers agent.
1. Always Second

**DISCLAIMER:** Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

* * *

_**Always Second**_

"_I'll only talk to 02, Duo Maxwell."_

Maxine Lestelle. The woman sitting in the interrogation room was strikingly beautiful. Long flaxen hair, delicately arched eyebrows, thick eyelashes framing hazel eyes and lush full lips. Her make-up was expertly applied to play up her features to the fullest; her clothes were straight from the runway and the bag we had confiscated from her person cost more than 3 months of my salary, or so the Agent Rivers from the evidence lab said. It was hard to imagine that she was on the Preventers most-wanted list, the right-hand woman of Nigel Gothe, the Earth Sphere's most feared terrorist. She looked too delicate to be a terrorist. Only the hard steel in her gaze and her ice-cold demeanor gave her away. She'd been eerily calm since her arrest and after stating that she would only talk to Duo Maxwell, she'd remained resolutely silent for the past 8 hours.

"So that's her? What a beauty! Her pictures don't do her justice!" a rich tenor whistled behind me.

I glanced to side as the owner of the voice came to stand next to me at the two-way mirror. Agent Duo Maxwell, former-gundum pilot and legendary agent of the Preventers gazed nonchalantly at the prisoner, his blue, almost violet eyes lazily tracing the woman from top to bottom. After their slow sweep, those unnerving eyes shifted may way.

"You been here long?"

"No sir, only 15 minutes or so."

"Mmm… And I'm guessing she's done nothing but sit there since you got here."

"Nothing at all sir."

Since my rotation into the surveillance and infiltration division, Agent Maxwell has become something of an unofficial mentor to me. I don't know what made him choose me, or if it was orders from above. As far as rookie agents go, I'm middle of the pack. My entrance examination results were slightly higher than average and my physical endurance tests were decent, but I have no qualities that set me apart from the rest of my class. No matter how many times I've wracked my brain for an answer, I've never been able to figure out why someone like Agent Maxwell would choose to take me under his wing.

"Well… it's been 8 hours or so since she asked for me and if she hasn't gotten agitated yet, she's not going to anytime soon. This is gonna be one tough cookie to crack," Agent Maxwell sighed, not looking concerned at all. "Well then kid, should we see what the lady wants?"

"What?" I gaped at him, "I'm going too?"

"Of course," he chuckled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Why else would I call you down here?"

"But she said she would only talk to you!" I began to protest, a cold sweat running down my back.

"Negotiation 101: You never give them exactly what they want," Agent Maxwell grinned. "Besides, it'll be a good learning experience for you."

"B-but… this is way above my security clearance and I-I"

"Stop making excuses," a warm callused hand landed on my shoulder. "If you ask me, they baby you rookies too much with all their so-called rules and regulations. The best way to learn how to swim is to jump in the deep end. Makes ya learn to keep afloat real quick!"

"Or drown," I grumbled under my breath.

The hand on my shoulder gave a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry so much kid, just keep quiet and observe. She'll probably just ignore you but if she does talk to you, don't respond. Besides, if you start to drown, I'll be sure to fish ya out."

I could only stutter as he gave me an exaggerated wink and sauntered into the examination room, completely at ease with the situation. I'd completely forgotten about his almost supernatural hearing.

"Sorry keep ya waiting Ms. Lestelle," he drawled as he pulled out a chair and languidly took a seat in one sinuous motion. His motions reminded me of a cat; seemingly careless but always well-planned and deliberate.

Stiffly, I followed suit and sat in the seat next to him, hoping that Maxine Lestelle wouldn't notice my presence. Of course my hopes were in vain.

"Who's he?" she demanded icily. "I said I wanted to talk to _you_."

"Yep, and here I am."

"It's not proper etiquette to bring a third wheel to a date."

"Mmm," Agent Maxwell hummed agreeably. "Is this what this is? A date? Well, don't mind him. He's just a rookie, he won't get in the way."

"It's also considered rude to keep your date waiting for so long."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. Paperwork's been a bitch these days, no thanks to your group's activities. And between keeping a pretty lady like you waiting and facing the wrath of the scary boss lady, the scary boss lady comes first. After all, she's tried and almost succeeded in killing me," Maxwell grinned, hands crossed behind his head as he leaned back in his seat.

"And they said that your motto from the war was to never lie…" Maxine Lestelle commented. "How disappointing to find out it's only a rumour. You're just another lying bastard like the rest of them."

"Nope, it's true. I never tell a lie. Ask him," he inclined his head my way.

I found myself trapped in an icy and penetrating hazel gaze. "Is it true?"

Unsure, I could only nod. After all, Agent Maxwell had told me to keep quiet.

The penetrating gaze did not relent. "Which part? The part that he never lies? Or the part that he was busy doing paperwork?"

"Both," I croaked past my constricting throat after an encouraging nod from my mentor.

I suffered under Maxine Lestelle's piercing gaze for another moment before she returned her attention to my superior, an amused smile dancing on her rouged lips. "Interesting… so it is true."

Agent Maxwell grinned back. "Didn't I just say so?"

And it was true. One of the things that surprised me the most since meeting Agent Maxwell was that the man never lied. Of course he never told the whole truth, but somehow he always managed to speak no falsehood. Agent Maxwell had been glued to his desk for most of the day catching up on his paperwork. I thought it was weird that he seemed oddly adamant on completing it himself today instead of shoving it off on myself or one of the other rookies. As for putting Commander Une above Maxine Lestelle, no doubt in his mind, Une was a priority. And as for Une being scary… that was an understatement. Commander Une was terrifying. I'd also heard that during the war, she had overseen Agent Maxwell's imprisonment on the Lunar base. No one knew entirely what happened during his imprisonment, but it was clear that Agent Maxwell had never forgotten his treatment at Une's hands.

"I gotta say Ms. Lestrelle," Agent Maxwell continued amicably, "I admire your talent for being able to tell if someone is lying or not… well, your doubts about me aside."

Maxine airily tossed her golden locks over her shoulder. "With small fry like him it's easy. After all, that's an inherent trait of psychopaths right? If I'm not mistaken, you've profiled me as one haven't you?"

"Yep, well not me personally… but the profiling team has." Agent Maxwell's demeanor remained cheerful and relaxed. My mentor had not brought any materials in with him, but I knew from previous experience that he already had her file committed perfectly to memory. Although his speech pattern made you think otherwise, I'd discovered that he had one of the sharpest minds in the Preventers.

Maxine placed her hands on the table and leaned slightly forward. Instinctively I began to shrink back in my chair but a subtle hand signal from my mentor kept me still. "You're one too… aren't you? You're not easy to read like the others, and I can tell that it's not just from specialized training." Maxine smiled for the first time, showing a row of beautifully white teeth.

"I'm one too? Oh… ya mean a psychopath?" Agent Maxwell raised an eyebrow and rocked back in his chair. "Can't really say if I am, I'm not a psychologist after all… although I gotta to admit I do give the docs in the office a headache. I think having a psychopath work here is against the regs though so… probably not?"

"Mmm," Maxine hummed. "I hear they make a lot of exceptions for you gundum pilots…"

"Not as many as you'd think," my superior replied amicably.

"Oh? I thought they'd value you more… Duo. May I call you Duo?"

"Only if I can call you Maxine," he replied without missing a beat.

Maxine smiled once more, showing her row of perfect teeth once again. I was starting to get an odd feeling, like Maxine Lestelle was flirting with my superior; like I really was the third wheel at this bizarre 'date'.

"So Duo, are you happy?"

"Huh?" Agent Maxwell seemed genuinely puzzled by the question.

"Too vague? How about at work?"

"Well…" Maxwell drawled out the syllable. "Work has been pretty hectic recently. It'd be real nice if your organization could tone things down a little bit. Can't say that this job leads to happiness, but I already knew that coming in."

"Mmm.." Maxine tapped her perfectly manicured fingernails on the metal tabletop. In a moment of bizarre realization, I wondered inanely why she wasn't handcuffed. Wasn't this woman dangerous? But then again, this interrogation room was one that even my highly skilled superior would have trouble breaking out of. Not to mention, said highly skilled superior/mentor was in the room with me so I had nothing to fear. Still, the woman across the table from Agent Maxwell gave me a really unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"I heard you joined at the request of Agent Heero Yuy," she mused, oblivious to my presence.

"I guess ya could say that," Agent Maxwell responded easily. "He needed my help for a mission and things kinda flowed from that."

"Don't you mean you were the only one available? I heard he'd contacted the others first but they were otherwise occupied…"

My mentor seemed unfazed by the comment. "Doesn't change the fact that he needed my help," he grinned broadly. "Plus we blew that mission outta the water! We make a real good team."

"Is that so? Yet Agent Yuy got all the credit, there was no mention of you at all," Maxine remarked rather snidely.

"Meh, no biggie. I wasn't doing it for the recognition, and neither was he. It's just the way things go sometimes."

"Maybe so, but even now, you're being constantly overlooked. You were instrumental in that mission in London two years ago, and let's not forget the nuclear meltdown you averted in the Arctic last year. Oh, and my all-time favourite: the time you helped save a colony from being dropped on earth only to be left behind as a distraction tactic. That was when you were still a Gundum Pilot, wasn't it?"

"I'm flattered that you've followed my career so closely Maxine," Agent Maxwell grinned, "But like I said, I didn't choose this line of work for the recognition."

"No, you didn't." Maxine nodded in agreement. I tensed when she shifted imperceptibly in her seat, the dangerous glint in her eye reminding me of a cat about to pounce on its prey. "You did it for the revenge."

"I did," my mentor admitted.

"Emphasis on the past tense I see," Lestelle commented.

Agent Maxwell shrugged. "Revenge gets old ya know? Anger only gets ya so far… you start to self-destruct after a while," he observed as he shot her a meaningful look while keeping his grin in place.

I realized that my mentor was slowly working on provoking a reaction Maxine Lestelle. Her file indicated that she joined Gothe's organization to exact revenge for the death of her parents and younger brother.

"What about love?" Maxine shot back smoothly.

Maxine Lestelle didn't seem the slightest bit affected by Agent Maxwell's remark about revenge. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying the interrogation more and more as it progressed.

"Love?"

"It's why you fight now, isn't it?" Maxine's smile turned cruel. "But even in that, you're neglected; second at best."

"Second?" my mentor parroted back with a sheepish grin. I recognized Agent Maxwell's feigned look of confusion. I had seen it many times before. He knew exactly what was going on, but he never let his adversaries know. This would usually result in his opponent getting cocky or angry. Either way, they would always slip up and let the cat out of the bag.

"To Relena Darlian-Peacecraft."

I felt the pit of my stomach drop. Agent Maxwell, to his credit, didn't' react.

"I know about your little… _relationship_ with Heero Yuy," Maxine taunted. "He loves the beautiful princess but can't bring himself taint her pureness. So he turns to you, after all, in his eyes, you're just as tainted as him, if not more. 'Fuck Budies', I think you call it. Such a distasteful term, don't you think? All physical with no emotional attachment. He'll never cherish you like he does her. One call from her and he goes running to her side. But you," Maxine paused significantly, "you love him."

My mentor shrugged depreciatingly. "Life doesn't always go the way you want it to."

"And you're just going to sit back and accept it?" Maxine traced idle patterns on the table with her manicured fingertips. "I didn't take you for a coward."

"Sorry to disappoint I guess."

Maxine continued to trace patterns on the tabletop before leaning forward in a conspiring manner. "If you're not happy, you can always choose to take matters into your own hands, to shape your own fate."

Agent Maxwell raised a brow. "Is that what you're going to do? Tell us where Nigel Gothe is? Tell us his plans?"

Maxine Lestelle tossed her hair airily. "You insult me Mr. Maxwell. I'll never betray Nigel, never. I'm done talking. I'd like to be taken to my cell now."

"If that's what you want," Agent Maxwell responded agreeably.

I struggled to mask my shock as Agent Maxwell got to his feet and tapped on the two-way mirror. "You heard the lady. Interview's over."

The door opened and several armed Preventers agents came in to take Maxine Lestelle away.

"I hope you'll carefully consider our conversation Duo," Maxine called back over her shoulder. "I know you can't be satisfied with always coming second."

"Will do!" my mentor called back cheerily.

"You're just going let her go?" I asked Agent Maxwell once Lestelle was out of earshot. "You're not going to ask her about Gothe? About the organization? We didn't learn anything! We can't just-"

"Settle down rookie," Agent Maxwell clapped me on the shoulder with his large, warm hand. "We got plenty!"

"We did?" I asked in confusion. As far as I could tell, Maxine Lestelle had dug her manicured claws into Agent Maxwell's scars and ripped them open. What for, I couldn't even begin to grasp.

"We did," a voice commented from behind me. "Good job Maxwell but did the rookie really need to be present?"

I turned to see another agency legend standing in the open doorway: Agent Wufei Chang.

"Awww come on, it was a teachable moment! You an' Heero are always complaining about how greenhorned these rookies are – no offense kid," Agent Maxwell winked at me.

Wufei snorted. "Teachable moment? The rookie still seems confused…"

"Yeah well… I was getting to that," Agent Maxwell grinned wryly. "Let's get outta this room and compare notes. That woman used way too much perfume!"

Five minutes later I found myself seated in a small conference room with agents Chang and Maxwell. Agent Maxwell was enthusiastically inhaling a sandwich while Agent Chang quietly sipped his coffee with an exasperated look on his face.

"You'd think you hadn't eaten for days," he commented placidly.

"That woman was intense man," Agent Maxwell replied nosily around a large mouthful sandwich. "She ranks right up there with Une."

"Don't let her hear you say that," Agent Chang cautioned.

I sat quietly in my own corner, watching the interaction between my two senior agents. Their personalities were vastly different yet they held a strong bond of camaraderie. They could be seen amicably enjoying a meal together as often as they could be seen arguing over tactics. I'd heard that this unique bond between the two had been formed during their imprisonment on the Lunar base. Because of their seemingly clashing personalities, I often wondered if they would ever have become such good friends if not for their joint imprisonment.

"So… jilted lover or unrequited love?" Agent Maxwell asked, seemingly out of the blue.

"Unrequited love," Agent Chang replied after a moment's consideration.

I blinked in confusion but I was too terrified to interrupt and ask for clarification.

"Unless you wish to remain ignorant, ask when you do not understand," Agent Chang chided me with a knowing look in his onyx eyes.

"Ah, truly spoken like a scholar!" my mentor grinned.

"It's your teachable moment," Agent Chang retorted.

"Yeah, yeah." Agent Maxwell swallowed his last mouthful of sandwich and turned to me. "Didn't you wonder why Lestelle asked for me personally? Why she kept bringing up my personal life?"

I wracked my brains for an answer but the only answer I could come up with seemed far too simple. "Because she identified with you somehow?" I ventured hesitantly.

"Bingo!" my mentor crowed as he unscrewed the cap of his bottled juice. "Well… at least that's half of it."

"So… umm… what does unrequited love have to do with everything?"

"She's in love with Nigel Gothe. She's also motivated by revenge, so if she was a jilted lover, she'd be spillin' all of Gothe's secrets. She's still deeply devoted to him, even though she's been cast aside."

"Cast aside?" I was starting to feel like I'd witnessed a completely different interview.

"Mmm," Chang hummed. "That's obvious from her fixation of Yuy and Maxwell's relationship. So now we need to find Lestelle's 'Relena'."

"Yep, the new lover he runs to whenever she calls, the one he 'cherishes'," Agent Maxwell agreed. "She's also probably his new right hand too, taking Maxine's place."

"So we need to find this new lover," Chang surmised. "This could just be the break that we need. I'll go make a report to Une, you should go home and get some rest."

"Will do!" Agent Maxwell grinned cheerfully, crumpling his crumb-covered paper plate and tossing it in the garbage bin. "Heero still in his office?"

Agent Chang hesitated for a moment. "Relena called. Yuy told me to tell you he'll be gone for a few weeks, a month at most."

"Oh," Agent Maxwell's grin faltered for a moment before stretching wider than before. "Is that so? Ah well, I might as well finish up my paperwork while I'm on a roll…"

"Don't stay too late. Your reports become incomprehensible when you get tired," Agent Chang rested his hand on Agent Maxwell's shoulder for a moment before heading towards Commander Une's office.

"Umm… are you ok?" I dared to ask after several moments of tense silence.

"'Course," my mentor replied without looking up. "I'm used to it. It's his job after all."

"But is it true… what she said?"

"She was pretty perceptive," Agent Maxwell laughed wryly. "But she was talking more about herself than me really. And there's one big difference between Maxine and I," He finally looked up and gave me one of his trademark grins. "Heero always comes back to me… Anyways, that's not really anything you should worry yourself over kid. Now get goin'! You've got early morning drills tomorrow and rumour is that Chang's leading 'em!"

"Yes sir," I replied automatically. I could feel a cold sweat taking over me at the mention of one of Agent Chang's infamous training drills, but what struck me more was the look in my mentor's eyes. Even though he was smiling as cheerfully as usual, his eyes were sad and haunted.

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_AN: Thanks for clicking on and reading this story! If you're also a reader of "Appleseeds", fear not! That story is still my priority. This is more of a writing experiment for me. I'm not a huge fan of writing in the first person but I wanted to try it out. The focus of this story won't be on plot developments but of the unnamed rookie's observations of Heero and Duo's relationship. The other pilots will make an appearance here and there but they won't be playing large roles in this fic._

_Hopefully this first chapter has caught your interest and you'll check back for more as I publish more chapters!_

_As always, feedback is always very welcome and wanted! It helps me improve my writing/storytelling and helps motivate me to write more! _


	2. Second Best

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Gundam Wing. Everything else belongs to me.

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**_Second Best_**

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"Well look at what the cat dragged in," Agent Maxwell drawled as I dragged my tired and sore body to my temporary desk. The large common office shared by the infiltration and surveillance division was deserted save for my mentor, most likely because it was our lunch hour.

Agent Maxwell, for his part, was just finishing the last mouthful of his lunch, his booted feet propped on his desk. "Where ya been kid? You've been MIA for four days! Did Chang put ya outta commission or something?"

"Or something," I grumbled, rubbing my aching shoulders.

"Something?" my mentor raised a brow as he nosily sucked the last dregs of his soda through his straw.

"Agent Chang found our training to be lacking and recommended further drills."

"Huh? Didn't think he'd have the patience to deal with ya rookies for more than four hours at a time, let alone four days," Agent Maxwell commented as he pulled one last noisy suck of his drink and sent the empty cup sailing into the trash bin on the other side of the room.

"Captain Noin volunteered to run our supplementary training exercises," I muttered.

"Noin did eh? So why are ya sounding so miserable about it?" Agent Maxwell asked as he swung his feet off his desk and brushed breadcrumbs off his black uniform pants.

"She's brutal! She was worse than Chang. And she was so moody! One minute she was all sweet and the next she was threatening to tear our bal- err, I mean uh… castrate us…" I finished dumbly when my mentor gave me a pointed look.

"A word of advice kid," he began with a serious look on his face. "I wouldn't go around bad-mouthing Noin, she's got ears everywhere an' she plays a big part in deciding which rotations ya rookies get placed in."

I felt a cold sweat begin to run down my back. Agent Maxwell hardly ever reprimanded anyone. When he did, it was serious. "Yes sir, I'm sorry sir," I apologized contritely, prepared for a further dressing down by my superior. I was taken aback when an amused smile lighted upon my mentor's face.

"Don't worry kid. I'm no rat. Plus, I feel for ya! Noin's been a little… _on edge_ since ol' Zephyrus was sent back to Mars solo."

"Zephyrus?"

My mentor grinned. "Ya know him as Agent Wind."

"Agent Merquise? But why do you call him Zephyrus?"

"Well… in Greek mythology, Zephyrus was the one of the four wind gods, God of the West Wind. Out of the four _Anemoi, _he was the one who banished winter and brought spring. Pretty fitting considering that Mr. Show-Off always shows up to help just as the tide of battle is turning. Plus," my mentor gave me an exaggerated wink, "he was quite the lady killer. Had a bit of an obsession with his sisters not to mention he was a rival of Apollo although he ultimately lost."

"Oh," I answered as I mulled his answer over. Again and again my superior took me by surprise with the depth of his knowledge. Mentally I added Greek mythology to the already long list that included everything from quantum physics to 20th century American literature.

"Apollo?" I wondered aloud as wracked my brains to remember anything that I'd learned in my Classics classes. "Would that be Agent Yuy?"

Agent Maxwell looked startled for a moment before chuckling. "The God of Sun and Light? Hmm… guess it suits him… Apollo certainly was a god among gods."

"What was the rivalry between Apollo and Zephyrus about?" I wondered out of curiosity. I'd long since observed that while Agent Maxwell's knowledge of things was eclectic, it often held some important meaning to him.

"Ah well, legend goes that there was this beautiful boy called Hyacinth. Both Apollo and Zephyrus fell in love with Hyacinth but Hyacinth chose Apollo. So, Zephyrus killed him in a fit of rage," my mentor's eyes turned distant for a moment. "Apollo created a flower from Hyacinth's blood. At first, Apollo would visit Hyacinth's grave, but soon he too was forgotten like so many others." My mentor's gaze re-focused on me. "That's why it doesn't pay to get involved with gods; you never get a happy ending."

I felt a shiver run down my spine as my mentor recounted the myth. Usually Agent Maxwell's speech was rough, uncultured and casual. But whenever he turned serious or introspective, his tone would change and his speech became more articulate; another clue that he was far more intelligent and cultured than most gave him credit for.

A knock on the open door interrupted my mentor's musings. I glanced behind me to see Commander Une's secretary standing with clipboard in hand, her uniform crisply pressed as usual. "Agent Maxwell," she announced in her equally crisp tone. "The Commander has called you to her office."

"Oh so she finally made time to see lil' ol' me eh?" Agent Maxwell stood from his chair and stretched, ignoring the disdainful sniff from Une's secretary. "Well, since I've got an important meeting with the boss, ya won't mind doin' my share of the paperwork along with the four days' worth of paperwork that you've already missed, will ya kid?" With an exaggerated flourish, my mentor dropped a dizzyingly high mound of papers in my inbox tray before sauntering out of the office, Une's scowling secretary in tow.

* * *

Several hours later, well past quitting time, I found myself descending into the depths of the records room, my arms full of the files I had been working on all afternoon. Although I had spent close to seven hours diligently filing out the paperwork my mentor had left me, I had only made it a third of the way through the massive stack of papers in my work inbox.

As I carefully sorted and began filing away the completed files in the towering black filing cabinets, I thought I heard muffled shouting further down in the basement of the Preventers Headquarters. I stopped my filing, stilled my breathing and listened intently but all I could hear was the groaning of the pipes and the humming of the furnace. I shook my head and resumed my filing.

"Pull it together," I muttered to myself. "The building's old, it's one of Sanq's historic restoration projects. There's nothing below this level except for the boiler and furnace. That's what it was, it was probably just the boiler acting up again."

Picking up the pace, I hurriedly finished my filing and moved to the computer station to log in the completed files. Just as I was inputting the data on my last file, the door to the boiler room slammed open with a metallic crash and Agent Maxwell came storming out in a fury, his braid flying behind him as he rushed straight past me and into the elevator.

"Calm down Maxwell!" Agent Chang roared as he followed in hot pursuit, his normally pristine Preventers jacket bunched at the collar as though someone, mostly likely my mentor, had grabbed it.

"Shove it Chang! I'm sick an' tired of hearing what I can and can't do!" my mentor yelled as he furiously jabbed the buttons in the elevator.

"You're being irrational again! Think of-" Agent Chang bellowed as he made a dash for the elevator but was cut off as the doors snicked shut an inch away from his outstretched hand.

"That hot-headed imbecile!" the Chinese agent growled as angrily stabbed the up button for the elevator and snapped open his phone.

"Barton, you'd better already be at the rendezvous point. I've already stalled Maxwell as long as I could but he just tore off in a rage. You are? Good. I'll make sure to upload any further findings we make on the forum we set up; we'll use Code Alpha Omega Two. Contact me through the predetermined method once you're in. And Barton, don't take any unnecessarily risks, you'll make Winner needlessly worry again. Roger, will do."

Agent Chang snapped his phone shut only to have it ring. "Chang here. Now? Fine!"

I jumped when he suddenly spun around and fixed me with his onyx stare. "You!" he pointed at me. "You're Maxwell's rookie aren't you? Come with me now!" he barked just as the elevator chimed and the doors slipped open.

I hurriedly logged out of the system at Agent Chang's command and scurried into the elevator just as the doors were closing.

"I want you to go back to your office, find Maxwell and keep him out of trouble. You are not to let him out of your sight, that's an order!"

"Yes sir!" I exclaimed as the elevator began to move.

Agent Chang pulled a card out of his pocket and thrust it at me. "My direct number is on there. Contact me if you lose him or he does something stupid," Agent Chang's voice turned to steel with his next words. "I will be very displeased if you do call me however. Do not fail! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir… b-but…"

"Spit it out agent! I don't have time for your stuttering!"

"H-how will I keep him out of t-trouble sir?"

"Stick to his side and make it clear that you are not leaving. Maxwell is not stupid enough to get a rookie like yourself embroiled in this matter. He will place your safety over his ambitions." Agent Chang glanced out of the corner of his eye at me before adding softly, "I hope."

The elevator doors slid open and I was unceremoniously shoved into the hall. "Remember your orders agent," my Chinese superior reminded me as the elevator doors slid shut and he continued upward, presumably to the Commander's office.

Disoriented, I stood dumbly in the hallway before I was brought back to the present by the shouting coming from my temporary office. There was no mistaking the loud and indignant voice bellowing down the empty hallway.

"-you dare! Stop lyin' to me! I know you called Une- no! Don't give me that bull! What the hell do you mean too risky? Like it's not risky for Trowa? Oh yeah, but he's just soooo much better than me 'cause he was trained, just like you Mr. Perfect Soldier!" my mentor's angry outburst was punctuated with the sound of a drawer being slammed shut.

"Whaddya mean he's better at infiltration?! Do you not remember who busted you out of that Alliance hospital? Well guess what! I'm the fuckin' head of infiltration and surveillance! Fuck you! Anderson may be the administrative head but everyone knows I run the division. Dammit, you've been talking to Chang too, he said that same thing!"

I hastily jumped out of the way as a rolling desk chair came barreling out of the open doorway of my temporary division's office. The chair hit the opposite wall with a thunderous crash, leaving a fair-sized dent in the drywall.

"And all of you self-righteous bastards- what? Yes, I'm calling Une a bastard too! And stop trying to change the subject Heero, you know what I'm gonna say. You morons have all forgotten that the invitation was _for me_. Gothe wants _me_, not you, not Trowa but _me_. And how the hell do you think he's gonna react if Trowa shows up? Oh yeah? He won't even notice Trowa? Well if you think so highly of Trowa, you can forget coming back into my bed, you can go screw Trowa! After all, you trust him with everything don't you? Don't tell me to calm down!"

I tentatively peeked into the large office, keeping alert for any further projectiles. My superior stood next to his desk, facing away from me, his back ramrod straight. He held his office phone with a white-knuckled grip in one hand while the other irritably wound and unwound the phone's cord around his fingers.

"What gives you the right to tell me what to do? What? You gonna stop me? Ha! How? You're on a fuckin' royal tour around the colonies with Queenie when there's a madman on the loose and you're telling me _I'm_ being stupid? This is our chance to make some inroads into Gothe's organization but you shut it down and- What the hell? _Now_ you're worried? Ha! You pick a hell of time to start worrying. I can look after myself just fine, I've been doin' it all my life! Don't waste your precious time arguing with me, go back to your job. Duty comes first right? What? If you can't say it right, don't say it all! No, fuck off! I'm done! You hear me? Done! I'm done talkin'!"

Agent Maxwell slammed the phone back into the receiver, breathing heavily. I couldn't help but jump back into the hall when he turned to glare at me.

"It's not nice to eavesdrop kid," he growled at me as he exited the office and brushed past me.

"I er, I um had some trouble with some of the files you gave me. Maybe you could help me?"

My mentor went eerily still before turning back to face me. "Seriously kid? I didn't take you for an idiot…" he muttered softly before continuing to head towards the stairs.

I stood dumbly in hallway for several moments, frozen by the anguished look on my mentor's face. I had seen him angry, happy, even somber, but I had never seen him look so broken before. Before I realized it, I was spurred into action, hearing the stairway door close softly behind my superior. Without fully comprehending my own actions and with Agent Chang's instructions echoing in my mind, I pulled my service issued handcuffs from my pocket and sprinted after Agent Maxwell. When I finally snapped back to the present, I found myself cuffed to my superior and he was staring at me dumbfounded.

"Well shit!" he uttered after several tense moments of silence. "You may be an idiot, but you've got gundanium balls kid…"

"I'm sorry sir but I, well that is, I umm…" I stuttered, at a complete loss as to how to explain my seemingly senseless actions.

"Did Chang put you up to this?" he asked softly.

I couldn't lie, especially not to someone who never lied. "Yes sir."

Agent Maxwell suddenly sat down in stairwell, his shoulders shaking with laughter. Soon he threw his head back, howling with almost hysterical laughter.

"Let me guess," he said between chuckles. "He told you to stick close to me right? Bet he never thought you'd take him so literally!" He raised his arm and jangled the metal cuffs attached to our wrists.

"Umm sir," I ventured once his laughter had subsided. "May I ask what happened? You were arguing with Agent Chang in the boiler room and then just now with Agent Yuy…"

"Oh, you down in the filing room?" Agent Maxwell looked genuinely surprised. "I must be slippin'." He sighed deeply before continuing. "Remember when I asked you why Maxine Lestelle insisted on talking to me specifically?"

"Yes sir, I answered that she identified with you somehow."

"And I told you that you were half right."

I nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, the other half kid, was recruitment."

"Excuse me?"

"She was recruiting me for Nigel Gothe. Most likely her final act for the man she loved. Gothe isn't so sloppy as to let her fall into our hands. No, the sadistic bastard sent her to us."

"He's recruiting you?!" I couldn't believe my ears.

"Yep. Most likely he thinks I'm the weakest link, that I'm unhappy with my current situation. While you were off on your training drills, I met with Maxine a few more times. Turns out they've done a lot of digging into my past and present."

"But couldn't it be a trap?"

"There's that too," Agent Maxwell nodded in agreement. "But Gothe is a man who likes to take risks. That's how he's managed to grow his organization so quickly. And I'll bet that he's banking on the fact that I used to be a renegade. Based on my track record here, no doubt he thinks I'm still a renegade. Too bad the boss lady doesn't share my sentiments. She had me running around interviewing Maxine, building my case and all the while she was prepping for Trowa's infiltration mission. And Heero and Chang were on board with her from the start."

The cuffs clinked as I sat down next to my mentor. I couldn't think of any words to console him so I opted to stay silent.

"Trowa's probably already infiltrated by now," Agent Maxwell commented as he glanced at his watch. "No way they'd let me know until he was already in place," he stated before falling silent once more.

I'd never met Agent Trowa Barton. In fact, aside from the founding members of the Preventers, no one had laid eyes on Agent Barton. He may as well have been a ghost. I'd often heard agents gossiping about him, rumours of his exploits spread like wildfire through the organization but for all his notoriety , no one really knew anything about the mysterious agent. All we could say was that he was the best infiltrator among our ranks; even better than Agent Duo Maxwell, the ace of the infiltration and surveillance division.

Our uncomfortable silence was suddenly disrupted by the loud growling of my stomach.

"Hungry?" he chuckled. "When's the last time you ate?"

"I slept through my alarm so I missed breakfast and Captain Noin's drills this morning didn't leave me with much of an appetite…" I muttered, shamefaced.

"Meaning she had ya pukin' your guts out?"

I nodded, feeling slightly relieved that my mentor's laid-back tone had returned.

"Let's hit the canteen then. I'll sweet-talk Doris into re-heating some food for us," Agent Maxwell grinned as he stood, unlocked cuffs dangling from his fingers.

My jaw dropped open as I glanced down at my wrist which was now miraculously unshackled. "How?"

Agent Maxwell winked. "Trade secret. I'll admit you've got balls, but it takes more than a pair of cuffs to stop me."

"But," I protested hesitantly.

"Don't worry kid. I'm not stupid enough to go rushing off and blow Trowa's cover. I'll play by their rules… at least for tonight. So let's go grab some dinner. Deal?"

"Deal," I nodded, relieved that I wouldn't have to place a call to Agent Chang.

Minutes later I found myself in the cafeteria, seated in front of an overflowing table. Not only had Agent Maxwell talked the cook into preparing practically every item on the menu, he'd also talked her into giving him full access to the soft-serve ice cream machine. I could only stare as he put the finishing touches on his monstrous sundae covered with every topping imaginable.

"Are you really going to eat all that?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.

"'Course!" he replied cheekily after swallowing his first spoonful. "Heero'd never let me eat this. Might as well take advantage of the fact that he isn't here."

"Oh," I responded meekly as I watched my mentor steadily demolish his sweet creation. Just as he was licking his last few spoonfuls, his phone began to vibrate. Deliberately taking his time, he finished his ice cream before checking the caller ID.

"What's up Chang?" he answered at last. "I gotta hand it to ya, sicking the rookie on me was a stroke of genius, you wouldn't believe what he did! Huh? What am I doin' right now? Just finishin' up my dinner. Hmm.. where? Where else? The canteen of course! What? Don't believe me? Turn on your security feeds!"

Agent Maxwell spun in his chair to face the cafeteria's security camera and waved vigorously, his phone still cradled next to his ear. The motion had caused his sleeve to fall down to his elbow, revealing his tattoo. Two calligraphic parallel lines bisected the soft flesh of his inner left forearm. The thick lines tapered from left to right, the top line shorter than the bottom. And inked below the two strokes was my mentor's former designation: 02.

When I'd first asked Agent Maxwell about his tattoo, he'd told me that the two lines were the Chinese character for 'two'. He'd joked that he'd gotten it because he always came in second. While it may have sounded like a light-hearted joke at the time, given recent events, I couldn't help but wonder if Maxine Lestelle really had discovered Duo Maxwell's weakness.

* * *

_AN: Wow! I have to say that I'm totally shocked by the feedback I've received for this story. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (And pls. keep 'em coming, *hint hint*!)  
Anyways, life hasn't left me with much time for writing. I'm still working on Applesseds but since that story's chapters are behemoths, they take longer. For the time being, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter. Still struggling with the first person narrative but it's turning out to be an enjoyable challenge. And please overlook any typos, mistakes etc. My proofreading skills tend to diminish, the later it gets but I just wanted to get this chapter published before I could nitpick anymore over the storyline.  
PS, the tattoo I described looks roughly like the cover image for this story (at least in my mind it does...) _


	3. Second Guessing

**DISCLAIMER:** Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

* * *

_**Second Guessing**_

* * *

_Nevermore_

The word seemed to jump from the wall, its red letters still damp and glistening. Below that single word lay the body of Maxine Lestelle, her lips parted in death, her perfect teeth stained with her own blood.

"I thought we had her on suicide watch?" My mentor's subdued voice tickled the edges of my senses.

"We did," Agent Chang's equally somber voice replied. "Apparently she tricked the guard into leaving. He was only gone for a few minutes but she was beyond saving by the time he returned."

Agent Maxwell nodded and stepped towards the far wall of Maxine Lestelle's cell, careful to avoid the blood pooling around her body. "But enough time for her to leave us a message."

I stood dazed, just outside entrance of the cell, unable to tear my eyes away from her glazed hazel eyes, eyes that had once locked in battle with Duo Maxwell, eyes that were proud and unwavering.

Agent Chang knelt next to her sprawled body, carefully examining the torn flesh of her wrists. "She was determined. The bites are deep, almost down to the bone."

My stomach churned with my Chinese superior's words and I blindly stumbled away. The next moment I felt a callused hand grab my arm and I was being hauled towards the toilet in the next cell over. We didn't make it and I was messily sick all over the adjoining cell floor. Behind me I heard Agent Chang loudly curse in Chinese.

"Take it easy Chang," my mentor spoke as he gently rubbed my back while I continued to empty the contents of my stomach. "It's his first DB, and a pretty gruesome one at that. Besides, he didn't contaminate any of the evidence."

"He shouldn't be here," Agent Chang retorted. "What is he doing here?"

"He was the only one in the office when the call about her suicide attempt came through. He called me but I was ten minutes away so I told him to come down here just in case Lestelle said anything before she died. I didn't think she'd choose such a messy way to go."

"Why were you out of the office?"

"I was checking up on the rest of the team. They're running a surveillance op for the Hargrove case. This isn't the only case I'm workin' on," Agent Maxwell retorted.

"Fine, fine," Agent Chang sighed. "I'll clean up here, you deal with the rookie."

"Got it. Meet you in one?"

"Make it two, this will probably take a while."

"Alright, let's get ya cleaned up and rehydrated kid." My mentor told me as he tugged me upright.

* * *

Precisely two hours later, Agent Chang arrived with two steaming cups of coffee. Agent Maxwell looked up from where we had been poring over the surveillance photos from the Hargrove case.

Agent Chang nodded towards the photos as he set one of the steaming cups in front of my mentor. "Is that the armed robbery case?"

"Yep," Agent Maxwell replied as he accepted the coffee with a nod.

"You think they're planning a heist at Sanq National Bank?"

"Mmm… that's the theory, right kid? We've heard a lot of chatter but we haven't spotted Hargrove or any of his known associates." Agent Maxwell gathered the photos into a file and dropped it into his desk. "You finished with the clean-up?"

"I am. The situation has been contained and the Commander briefed," Agent Chang turned his attention to me. "I trust I don't need to tell you that anything you witnessed today is to be kept strictly to yourself? We are not making Maxine Lestelle's suicide public knowledge."

"Yes sir," I responded, wilting under his stern gaze.

"Good. You are dismissed."

"Yes sir," I replied as I went to grab my coat but I was stopped by Agent Maxwell.

"Stay put kid, you're on this case too."

"Maxwell? He's-"

"Une's restricted this case to a skeleton team right?" My mentor interrupted him. "If that's the case, we need to use all the manpower we have. I already got him clearance for the interview and since he witnessed her death, it's no use keeping him outta the loop. Besides," Agent Maxwell winked at me, "he's been pretty useful so far."

Agent Chang gave my mentor a withering stare that clearly indicated that he thought I'd been far from useful up until now.

"Hey, I haven't told ya how he carried out your orders yet have I?" my mentor suddenly switched topics. "Kid's got brass balls man, he handcuffed himself to me!"

Agent Chang blinked at his fellow agent for a moment before fixing his gaze on me. "You still don't look well," he commented.

"Er… I'm still a little queasy sir," I admitted.

The Chinese agent nodded curtly, turned on his heel and marched out of the room.

"Umm… did I say something wrong?"

"Nah," my superior replied, amusement colouring his tone. "I bet he's out in the hall laughin' his ass off. He just doesn't want ya to see. Take a seat kid, he'll be back soon enough."

Unconvinced, I resumed my seat at the large conference table. I couldn't imagine the stern-faced agent ever laughing, let alone smiling. Several minutes later Agent Chang reappeared with another steaming cup which he placed in front of me.

"Ginger tea, for your stomach," he explained curtly with a ghost of a smile. The smile disappeared immediately as he tossed a thumb drive to my mentor and took a seat in front of his own cup of coffee. "We processed every inch of that cell but didn't find anything else other than Lestelle's dying message."

"What about the autopsy?" Agent Maxwell asked as he plugged the thumb drive into the console installed in the center of the conference table.

"The autopsy won't be finished for another twelve hours at least. Still, I doubt autopsy will yield anything useful."

"So all we've got to go on is her dying message? I gotta say, leaving a cryptic message in blood seems a lil' melodramatic for a classy lady like Maxine Lestelle…" my mentor mused as he tapped on the console to project a picture of the bloodied wall from Lestelle's cell.

"_Nevermore_," Agent Chang read aloud as he stepped closer to the image and pointed at the smudge next to Lestelle's last word. "Any thoughts on this? Do you think she was trying to write something more?"

I squinted at the smudged blood, noticing the four smeared lines slanting upwards. "Maybe it was unintentional? She could have made those marks as she was losing consciousness."

"I initially thought that as well," my Chinese superior stated, "but if that was the case, the blood would have been smeared downwards, not upwards. Still, that's a decent deduction agent."

"Oh," I took a sip of my tea, the scent of the ginger soothing my frazzled nerves.

My mentor gave me a small smile before leaning back in his chair and considering the image before him, tilting his head as he examined the smudge from various angles. "Almost looks kinda like a wing, dontcha think?"

Agent Chang sat up straight at my mentor's words. "A wing? Of course! She's referring to _The Raven._"

"Huh?"

"Edgar Allen Poe's most famous poem," Agent Chang clarified at my mentor's mystified look. "You are right Maxwell. This is too overly dramatic for someone like Lestelle. Perhaps it is a message for Gothe?"

"Maybe," Agent Maxwell agreed. "That's the poem about the nutty guy who talks to a bird as he dies of a broken heart right?"

Agent Chang gave my mentor a withering glare. "You are missing the subtle nuances of the work but putting it crudely, yes that is the one."

My mentor mulled that information over for a moment before suddenly whirling on me. "Hey kid, I know we've already been over this but tell us again everything that happened when you got to the cells."

I nodded, centering myself by focusing on the warmth of the mug of tea in my hands. "When I first arrived at the scene, the medics were already working on Maxine Lestelle. Both wrists were already lacerated and she lost consciousness shortly after I arrived."

"Bull, there had to have been something else!"

"Maxwell, his account is consistent with the accounts of everyone else at the scene," Agent Chang countered.

"It's not like ya kid, too detached, too clinical." My superior stood, placed his palms flat on the table and leaned towards me. "Think back, there was something, something that stood out, something that had ya spooked."

"It was his first dead body, you said so yourself Maxwell, of course he was distressed!"

"You couldn't stop staring," Agent Maxwell continued, ignoring Agent Chang's protests. "Most newbies look away at the sight of a mutilated body, but you couldn't stop staring! Why?"

"Everyone reacts differently to death," Agent Chang tried again.

My mentor leaned further into my personal space. "Stop second guessin' yourself kid. Listen to your gut, what did ya see?"

"She smiled… right before she lost consciousness," I whispered as the image of her bloodstained smile flashed in my mind. "It was only for a moment… I don't think anyone else saw… but I could swear that she smiled right at me."

"She smiled at you? So she recognized you?" he insisted, his chilling violet eyes boring into mine.

"I think so. She was staring at the ceiling when I first got there… but then, she turned her head and looked right at me," I recounted, shivering as I remember the grotesque tilt of her head as she turned to meet my gaze.

"That's enough Maxwell, this isn't one of your interrogations," Agent Chang snapped as he pulled my mentor away.

"Sorry kid," my mentor grinned sheepishly as the manic gleam faded from his eyes. "Got a lil' carried away there. But you did good, real good. Right Chang?"

My Chinese superior nodded tersely. "Yes. I think that's enough for today. I will look into whether or not this reference to _The Raven_ is some sort of coded message for Gothe. Until the autopsy report comes in, there is not much else we can do."

"Sounds good. Grab your coat kid, I'll give ya a ride home."

I shakily shrugged into my uniform jacket and followed my two superiors out into the hall.

"Here," my mentor handed Agent Chang a disc as we waited for the elevators. "Pass this along to Trowa. It's some of my special recipes."

"Recipes?" Agent Chang inquired as he accepted the disk.

"Yep, none of my signature mixes but potent enough that it will get him noticed. Ya sent him in as a demolitions guy right?"

The corner of my Chinese superior's mouth quirked. "And how did you come to this conclusion Maxwell?"

"Well," my mentor drawled out deliberately. "Maxine seemed fixated on my various demolitions-related missions during our lil' chats, plus we just nabbed Gothe's go-to bomb maker. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that Gothe's in the market for a demolitions guy."

The elevator doors slid open and Agent Chang nodded but he didn't speak until the doors had closed behind us and the elevator began its decent. "Our theory is that he was going to lure you to his organization, have you build the explosives and then dispose of you."

"So ya sent Trowa in instead?"

Agent Chang sighed. "You are too high profile and Gothe clearly knows a lot about you. Barton was the more logical choice since he can infiltrate from the bottom and work his way up. He might even be able to earn Gothe's trust."

"I get that. That's why I gave ya my recipes. It'll help him catch Gothe's eye. I still think we're missing a golden opportunity here. Trowa's good, but his method takes time. Who knows how long it'll take him to work into Gothe's inner circle…"

"The risks of sending you in outweighed the possible benefits," Agent Chang retorted. "You would have been walking in with a target on your back from the start. This isn't war anymore Maxwell, there is no need for you to take such large risks."

"So you keep telling me."

The elevator came to a stop on the main floor and Agent Chang exited the elevator. "Une says you have the weekend off. I'll contact you if there are any further developments."

"Hey wait!" my superior called after his colleague as he stopped the doors from sliding shut. "What was the name of the lover in the poem? Ya know, the chick that the guy was going crazy over?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just popped into my head. Ya know it'll keep buggin' me until I figure it out."

"I believe it was 'Lenore'."

"Right! That was the chick," Agent Maxwell crowed. "That poem's creepy as hell."

"If you say so. Get some rest Maxwell."

"Will do!" my mentor called back cheerily as he stepped back into the elevator and we continued our descent to the parking structure.

* * *

I couldn't sleep that night, the image of Maxine Lestelle's body, lying like a broken doll in a pool of her own blood, her vacant eyes and that cruel smile kept surfacing every time I tried to close my eyes. Frustrated, I stayed up all night, watching endless re-runs of old TV shows to keep my mind off the events of the day. Finally, I managed to doze off just as the first rays of the sun were coming over the horizon. After what felt like only an instant, I was jarred awake by the insistent buzzing of my doorbell.

Rolling off my battered couch, I stumbled towards the door, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. In my sleep-deprived stupor, I forgot to check the peephole and could only gape in surprise when I found my mentor on the other side of the door.

"Woah," Agent Maxwell commented as he nonchalantly leaned against my doorjamb. "Ya look like hell kid."

"Uh ah, umm…" My brain refused to come up with anything coherent, shocked at seeing my mentor out of his uniform. Dressed in a worn leather jacket, simple black T and jeans, my mentor looked as though he'd become a teenager again. He also looked so… normal, nothing like the lethal agent I knew him to be.

"I came over to check on ya since I was worried. Well, also to invite ya to lunch as an apology for pushin' ya too hard yesterday."

"Lunch?" My brain finally kicked into gear, albeit a low one, and I glanced over my shoulder at the clock on my wall. "But it's already past three…" I stated dumbly.

I started when he suddenly grabbed my face with both hands and pried one of my eyelids open with his thumb. "Doesn't look like you're on anything…" He released his grip on my face and pushed his way past me into my cramped apartment. His eyes quickly scanned over my half-eaten dinner, still sitting on the kitchen counter, my messy couch and the TV playing some mindless program. "Rough night?"

"I couldn't sleep," I admitted.

"Mmmm," he hummed before gently pushing me towards my bathroom. "Grab a shower and get dressed. We're going out."

I obeyed mechanically, grabbing a fresh change of clothes before entering my tiny bathroom. The shower helped banish some of my grogginess but my body felt lethargic and it took me longer than usual to shower, shave and get dressed. Finally somewhat presentable, I stepped out of my fogged up bathroom to find my mentor seated on my couch, rifling through one of my photo albums.

"You were a cute kid," he remarked without looking up. He snapped the album shut and returned it to my bookshelf. "Sorry, I was getting' a lil' bored."

"It's alright sir," I replied uneasily. I didn't like people looking at those photos, even my mentor who I admired and greatly respected.

"Must be hard bein' on your own," Agent Maxwell commented as he shrugged into his black leather jacket. "Your file says that your mother passed away two years ago, a year before ya graduated college."

"I guess," I muttered noncommittally, uncomfortable with the subject. "You took your shoes off, you didn't have to do that sir," I observed dumbly.

"Force of habit," he replied, slipping into his hefty combat-style boots. "Heero's got a thing about shoes in living spaces and God help anyone who dares to enter Chang's apartment with their shoes on."

"Oh," I answered inanely as I jammed my feet into my worn sneakers and followed my superior down the stairs and towards his parked black SUV.

"What are ya in the mood for?" he asked as he slid into the driver's seat next to me.

"Anything's fine sir."

My mentor gave me a long hard stare before breaking into a grin and turning the key in the ignition. "I'll pick then. But don't I wanna hear any complaints if ya don't like the place. An' drop the 'sir'. We're off duty today."

Twenty minutes later I was seated at the counter in a boisterous sports bar. The lights were bright and the walls were covered with TV screens showing just about every sport imaginable. The patrons were loud, cheering on their favourite teams, celebrating with rounds of beer or goading each other at the pool tables.

"Duo!" the burly bartender greeted with a big smile as he clasped hands with my mentor. "Long time no see! Where have you been man?"

"Ah, ya know how it goes. Job's got me runnin' to that bone."

"How's the team?"

"Good, I'll bring 'em for a round of drinks when our next job wraps up," he clapped me on the shoulder. "This kid here's my newest recruit."

"You got lucky kid. Duo's one hell of a guy," the bartender grinned at me as he slid two frothy glasses of beer across the table. "Oh the house."

"Thanks Lou," my mentor grinned, raising his glass in toast and taking a sip. "We'll take two of the usual."

"You got it!" The bartender nodded before moving down the counter to take another order.

"Ah, I've missed this place," Agent Maxwell declared, taking another sip of his drink. "I only get to come here with the team but the team's been so scattered and busy these days…"

I didn't know how to respond so I stalled by taking a sip of my beer. "You don't come here with the others? Your umm… friends?" I ventured at last.

My mentor gave me a small smile. "Heero's not big on places like this. Chang'd rather kick my ass in the dojo or go to a museum. Quatre's rarely dirt-side but when he does come to visit, he likes to take us to those fancy places, ya know those places where they give ya more forks than ya know what to do with?"

"What about Agent Barton?" I asked hesitantly.

"Trowa? Mmm… we've never really seen eye to eye, plus he's not around much. Don't get me wrong, he's a stand-up guy and I trust him with my life but… ya know how it goes. There're some people ya click with and others ya don't." He took another deep swallow of his drink and wiped the froth off his upper lip with the back of his hand. "I came here with Zephyrus once, now _that_ was an experience," he chuckled to himself. "I'll tell ya though, that man sure can drink. I ended up gettin' plastered and woke up in Noin's living room. Gotta say, she wasn't too impressed with me."

I choked on my beer, imaging my mentor getting drunk with the apathetic Agent Wind. I could all too easily picture the expression on Captain Noin's face when she discovered my superior passed out in her living room. Agent Maxwell for his part, good-naturedly patted me on the back, a grin stretching from ear to ear.

The burly bartender returned with to massive plates, each loaded with a sizzling steak and a mound of fries. "Steak and fries, just like you like them."

"Tell Charlie he grills the best steaks in town," Duo grinned. "Dig in kid."

The steak was juicy and tender and my appetite returned with a vengeance. We ate in silence for a few minutes but my mentor wasn't one to stay silent for long.

"You play any sports in high school kid?" he gestured at the array of screens with a ketchup-dipped fry.

"No." I busied myself with my food but I felt compelled to elaborate when my mentor fixed me with his unrelenting gaze. "Sports cost money and money was tight."

"It was just you and your mom?" He gestured to Lou and the bartender slid two more beers our way.

I nodded, accepting my second glass. "Since I was born."

"You don't have a father listed in your records."

"She never talked about him, she never told me who he was. I don't even have a father listed on my birth certificate."

My mentor watched me for a moment before turning his attention back to the TV screens. "Heero and I played basketball in school together. We still play one-on-one sometimes. I haven't managed to beat him yet."

An unhappy chorus of protests went up as all the sports broadcasts were interrupted and Relena Peacecraft's image filled all the screens.

"Shit, speak of the devil!" my mentor exclaimed, his eyes glued to the figure standing right behind ESUN's Foreign Minister. Although I'd never met him in person, I recognized Agent Heero Yuy right away. He stood tall and rigid, his usually messy hair was gelled back and his stern blue eyes constantly scanned his surroundings. Since the TVs were all muted, the caption of her speech began to scroll along the bottom of the screens.

"It's crazy ya know," my mentor commented, his eyes glued to the screens, "holding a press tour in the colonies when Gothe is out there wreaking havoc."

"So why is she doing it then?"

"She's the sweetheart of peace kid. The colonies are always the first to break ranks whenever there's any unrest. If she backs down and hides, it'll mean that Nigel Gothe is winning. Battles aren't always fought on the battlefield. Still… it doesn't change the fact that it's madness. She's practically begging him to attack her, going out into the open like that."

"Are you worried?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Nah, Heero won't let anything happen to her. But still… she can't keep playin' a sitting duck forever. That's why we need to get a handle on Gothe, and soon. And Heero may seem super-human, but even he has his limits. I can't keep lettin' him fight on his own." He drained his second glass in a single swallow and gestured at Lou to bring the bill.

"Sorry the mood got spoiled kid," he said, signaling the subdued mood in the bar.

"It's ok. Thanks for dinner, it was really good."

"Best steak in town right?" my mentor grinned as he accepted his change from Lou. "Hey, what's this?" he asked the bartender, holding up two cab vouchers.

"Your boyfriend dropped a stack of them off last week," Lou answered with a sly smile. "He said that under no circumstances was I allowed to let you drive home after you'd had something to drink."

"I've only had two drinks!" my mentor protested.

Lou shrugged. "I have no doubt that you can still drive better than most people can sober. But your boyfriend was very insistent, and no offence man but he scares me a hell of a lot more than you Duo."

"Lou…" Agent Maxwell growled at the bartender, giving him a baleful glare.

"Yep, like I said. He beats you in the intimidation department. I really don't wanna have to tell him that you turned down his 'gift'." Lou turned to me with a conspiring grin. "Duo's boyfriend always shows up to pick him up, even if he's only had a single drink."

"Fine, fine," my mentor grumbled, handing one of the vouchers to me. "Controlling bastard," he added under his breath.

Lou cleared his throat as we headed towards the door. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Without turning around, my mentor tossed his car keys over his shoulder, right into Lou's outstretched hand. We stepped outside into the crisp evening air to find two cabs already waiting for us, no doubt Lou's doing.

"We'll come back next time with team once the Hargrove case wraps up," Agent Maxwell informed me as he opened the door to his cab and climbed into the back seat.

"Yes sir," I nodded. "I look forward to it." I watched as my mentor smiled at the cab voucher in his hand before handing it over to the cab driver.

Entering my own cab, I examined the perfectly scrawled signature at the bottom of the voucher.

_Heero Yuy._

* * *

_AN: Hey all. Once again I'm overwhelemed by all the feedback I've been getting for this story. (keep it coming please!) Looking at the outline, this story looks like it's shaping up to be longer than I'd originally planned. *sigh* I was hoping on finishing at least one story. Biggest struggle right now is keeping the chapters short(er) and about the same length. But my protagonist tends to get a little wordy... _

_A quick update this time since this chapter demanded to be written. Unfortunately I don't think the next update will be as quick but we'll see how things go._

_To my Appleseeds readers, yes I am still slowly plodding away at that. I managed to dig myself into a plot hole so I'm desperately trying to claw my way back. I'm hoping that working on this will undo my writer's block. _

_Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed the latest chapter and please leave me your comments! They are so very much appreciated! :D_


	4. Second Nature

**DISCLAIMER:** Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

* * *

_**Second Nature**_

* * *

I was knee-deep in paperwork when Agent Sanders ambled into the office.

"Heya rookie!" the heavy-set agent greeted me, "Maxwell's got you hard at work I see!" He picked up one of the documents I was working on and read from the top sheet. "Requisition order for… more pens!" he laughed heartily.

I glared at him but couldn't stay irritated for long. Agent Sanders was a jovial middle-aged man, port and greying at the temples but an expert at reading body language. He reminded me of the crazy but lovable uncle, or at least what I imagined one would be like.

"Aww, don't glare at me rookie! I heard you've been up to some exciting stuff. The buzz says that Maxwell let you sit in on his interview with Maxine Lestelle."

"He did," I nodded. "But ever since then, all I've been doing is paperwork…"

"Don't complain kid!" Sanders slapped me on the back, "we've all got to pay our dues. And Maxwell has a thing about keeping greenhorns out of the field until they've proven their mettle. In fact, you've been the first rookie he's accepted in a while… maybe 3 years or so now."

"Really?"

Sanders nodded. "Mmmhmmm. He's been refusing to take on rookies since the Linder incident."

"Linder incident?"

"Yeah, the last rookie we had. Maxwell took her on a mock surveillance job to test out the rookie's powers of observation. Well, as luck would have it, they stumbled across a drug deal, total amateurs too. Just a bunch of rick kids with too much time on their hands. Maxwell had the situation under control but Linder completely panicked when one of the kids tried to attack Maxwell, ran straight into the knife."

"Was Linder ok?"

"Yeah, Linder pulled through. But Maxwell had her transferred out of the division before the girl was even out of surgery. Didn't even go visit her at the hospital and he wouldn't even hear of taking another rookie."

"He did?" I was shocked. I had thought of my superior as the forgiving type. He never got mad when I messed up the paperwork, never got irritated when I took too long to find a file.

"Yeah, we were real surprised. He got along real well with the rookie."

"So where is Agent Linder now?"

"Ex-agent. Linder quit soon after she'd been transferred. Poor girl was devastated. She practically worshipped the ground Maxwell walked on. Couldn't take the fact that Maxwell had cut all ties with her. If I were a betting man, I'd wager a thousand credits that the girl was in love with Maxwell."

"Oh." I didn't know how to respond to Sanders' last comment.

* * *

"We're goin' out," Agent Maxwell announced when appeared on my doorstep once again.

"We are?" I had just gotten home and I still hadn't changed out of my uniform. Self-consciously, I straightened my tie.

"Yep, let's go blow off some steam!" my mentor commanded as he pushed past me into my apartment and headed straight to my bedroom.

"Uh where to sir?" I scrambled after him. This was strange; first the invitation to a late lunch and now this. It couldn't be dinner, we'd already eaten at the office.

"Geez kid, don't get out much do ya?" my superior completely ignored the question as he rifled through the meagre contents of my closet. "This will have to do," he commented as he threw a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt on the bed. "Get changed quick!"

Dumbly, I rushed to get changed but took the time to hang up my uniform to prevent wrinkles. When I emerged from my bedroom, I found Agent Maxwell standing in the middle of my living room, casually surveying the room, his head cocked to the side.

"Ready?" he asked, turning around to face me. "Hmm…" he muttered to himself he studied me from head to toe. "Nope. This isn't gonna work…" He stepped up and ruffled my hair, messing up my side part. "Better… but still…" he shrugged out of his battered leather coat and held it out to me. "Careful with this, an' don't spill anything on it!"

I carefully eased my arms into the black jacket, pulling it up over my shoulders. The jacket was warm, still lingering with the warmth of my mentor.

"Ok, let's goin'"

I wasn't too surprised when my mentor headed straight towards the entertainment district. I was shocked however, when we pulled into the parking lot of a seedy strip club.

"Sir?"

"Drop the sir, you an' me, we're just two guys out on the town." My mentor quickly glanced at his reflection in the rear-view mirror before grabbing a wide wristband from behind the sun visor. He slipped it onto his left wrist, covering his '02' tattoo. "Attracts too much attention," he told me when he noticed my gaze.

At a loss I followed him into the club, instantly assaulted by the stench of smoke and sweat. I stood in the doorway blinking for several moments until my eyes adjusted to the darkness interspersed with flashing strobe-lights. Once my eyes had adjusted, I hurried after my mentor as he strode purposely towards the back, as though he was familiar with the place. I finally caught up with him as he slid into a corner booth. I hesitated for a moment but slid in across from him when beckoned me with a tilt of his head.

"Umm…" I ventured after several long minutes. My mentor didn't respond. He leaned back in his seat, an arm slung across the back of his seat as he surveyed the club with a small smirk playing across his lips. When one of the scantily clad waitresses strutted by, he grabbed her arm to get her attention.

"Hey sugar!" he practically purred at he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a roll of cash. "Can you get us started on some drinks?" With deliberate care, he pulled two hundred-credit bills from the roll and held them out to her. "Keep the first one for yourself sugar."

"Sure," the waitresses' eyes widened for a moment before stuffing the bills into her low cut – I was hesitant to call it – 'shirt'. "What do you want?" she smacked her gum loudly as gave both of us a onceover.

"I'll leave it up to you," my mentor winked at her. "How long until the show starts?"

The waitress shrugged. "Soon," she replied before sauntering off. I was surprised when she returned so quickly with two drinks on her tray. She set down what looked like a tumbler of whisky in front of my mentor and some sort of orange and pink drink adorned with orange slices and maraschino cherries. I picked up the straw and poked at the drink with uncertainty. I had no idea what it was.

"She got ya good kid!" My mentor had thrown back his head and was laughing heartily. "Pegged ya as first-timer and I'm bettin' she's right!" He turned to look back towards the bar where our waitress was leaning against the bar with a bored expression, waiting for her order to be filled. "I like her," he commented. "She knows how to read people."

I was saved from replying when loud music began blaring and a bevy of half-dressed women sauntered out from the back and up to the various poles dotted around the club. They didn't say dressed for long. Uncomfortable but amazed at the same time with the display of gymnastics in front of me, I gulped down my drink, not even noticing its syrupy sweetness. Summoned by catcalls and waved bills, the women soon slid away from their poles and dispersed into the crowd.

Another fruity drink appeared in front of me and I latched onto it. "Thank you," I said automatically.

"How cute," the waitress regarded me with amusement. "You're gonna get eaten alive hun. Oh, big surprise, Candy's hogging the loaded ones again."

"Huh?" I mumbled around my straw. The waitress shot a disapproving look to the seat across from me where a buxom blonde was straddling my mentor's lap. Distracted by all the half-naked bodies around me, I hadn't even noticed her arrival. My mentor seemed completely at ease, his eyes half-lidded as he watched her gyrate on his lap. Unsure of where to look, I fixed my attention on my drink, carefully peeling off the peels of my orange slices.

"What?" I looked up at the Candy's harsh screech.

"I said, I want _her_," my superior responded calmly, nodding his head towards a brunette that was slowly making her way towards my superior's beckoning hand.

"What do want with an old hag like her?" Candy pouted.

"Experience hun," the brunette replied as she reached our booth. Looking at her, I could tell that she had been in the profession for a while. Underneath her caked on make-up I could see the creases around her eyes and mouth and her body spoke of the numb detachment of someone who'd seen and done too much.

"Thanks for the dance babe, how about you keep my friend company for a while?" Duo casually slid a few bills into cleft between Candy's bouncing breasts. "It's his first time here."

"Fine," Candy tossed her hair and climbed off his lap. "Hag-chasing freaks like you aren't worth my time."

My mentor didn't seem the least bit affected by Candy's rudeness. In fact, it was almost as though he'd already forgotten about her, his attention fixed solely on the brunette standing right outside our booth. "How about you an' me go somewhere more quiet?" he asked her bluntly.

"Sure hun," the brunette replied. "But it's gonna cost you."

"No problem," my mentor slid out of the booth and draped an arm around her waist as they slinked off into one of the back rooms.

I stared after them, dumbfounded until my vision was blocked when Candy proceeding to climb onto my lap.

"What's your name baby?" she asked me, her attention clearly fixed on the retreating figure of my mentor.

"Umm… I umm…" I stuttered but she didn't seem to notice.

"What about your friend, hmmm? What's his name?" she murmured in my ear as she lightly ran a finger down my chest. I squirmed, my body reacting to her touch.

"Umm… look, I really don't want a dance," I tried to reason with her.

"You don't want one? Oh but I think you do," she gave a meaningful glance at my jean covered crotch. Feeling uncomfortably hot, I pushed her off me and stumbled off towards the bathroom, followed by a chorus of jeers and laughter.

I locked myself in a stall, taking deep gulping breaths as I struggled to calm myself down.

A soft knock on the stall door woke me from my stupor. "You ok hun?"

I opened the stall door to find the waitress standing on the other side.

"Come on out, I'll fix you a drink."

I followed her back out to the bar. Thankfully the other patrons had already forgotten about me, their attention fixed on a fresh flock of strippers currently sliding up and down their poles. Numbly, I sat down the bar stool and gripped glass the waitress had slid across to me.

"You know someone in the business?" she asked me. "Someone close to you?"

I glanced up at her in shock. My mentor was right, as usual, the waitress was an expert at reading people. "Yeah," I responded around a lump in my throat. "I used to."

The waitress nodded sympathetically. "Looks like your friend's done," she remarked as she nodded towards the back. I swiveled around on my stool to see my mentor making a beeline for me, concern etched on his features.

"You ok kid?" he asked, griping my arm.

"You should know better," the waitress chided him, smacking her gum loudly in disapproval.

"Yeah. Thanks." He slid another note across the bar to her. "Let's go kid, I'll take you home."

Still shaken and starting to feel the effects of the alcohol, I stumbled out the club and into the parking lot. The cool night air help calm my shaky nerves and I gratefully inhaled a few deep lungfuls.

"Asshole!" I was shoved aside as a large burly man shoved my mentor up against the wall. "You insulted my Candy!"

I stumbled a few steps to regain my balance, my hand reaching for my Preventers ID in my back pocket. I pulled it free, ready to announce my status as an agent but stopped short when Agent Maxwell fixed me with a steely look and a firm shake of his head.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" the man roared. "Normally I'd offer a rich guy like you a more… _private_," he leered, "date with my Candy but not when you insult my Candy. Picking some old hag like Linda over Candy. But I'll overlook it just this once if you fork over that wad of cash you're carrying around." He shoved his bearded face forward until he was almost nose to nose with my superior but Agent Maxwell didn't even flinch.

"Let me guess," my mentor drawled with a smirk. I could tell he was drawing out his words deliberately. "Candy identifies the target, you offer a more _personal_ experience and you either rob or blackmail your target. Am I right?"

His answer was an inarticulate growl as the man shoved my mentor harder against the back wall of the club. Instinctively my hand reached for my gun, only to find it wasn't there. With dawning horror, I realized that we had come as civilians, not as agents.

"So," my mentor continued to taunt the larger man. "What's the plan this time… ya gonna mug me?"

"Yeah," the man sneered. "I think I'll do that." He stepped back and pulled out a gun from inside his jacket. "Fork it over!" he demanded, gun pointed straight at my mentor's head.

I scrambled for my phone, my fingers trembling as I tried to dial 9-1-1. I froze when my mentor, without looking at me, motioned for me to stop using Preventers hand signals.

"What the hell?" the burly man's head swiveled towards me as though noticing my presence for the first time. "Drop the phone! I'll shoot, him!" he threated, barrel of the gun pressed firmly against my mentor's forehead. "Don't mess with me, I'll shoot him!"

"Stop yappin' an' just shoot me then!" Agent Maxwell goaded. "'S not the first time someone's pointed a gun at my head, an' it sure as hell won't be the last!"

"You think this is funny asshole?" The man pushed the gun harder against my mentor's forehead.

"You don't have the balls. Come on! Shoot me! Shoot me!" he practically screamed at the man.

My phone fell from my nerveless fingers. I couldn't understand what my mentor was doing. He'd had plenty of opportunities to disable the man, to wrest the gun from his control. I couldn't comprehend what he was thinking, provoking the clearly angry man like that. I started to step towards them, mind racing through the possible ways to disarm the man, even distract him but my mind kept coming up blank. I stopped breathing when I saw the man's finger squeeze the trigger.

_Click._

I don't know who was more surprised when the gun didn't fire.

"Huh?" the man stared at his gun in shock as though he'd never seen it before.

"I think yer looking for this," my mentor informed him cheerily, holding up the gun's clip. "Ya clearly don't know how to use that thing. Ya didn' even notice that the gun was lighter, amateur!"

With lightning fast reflexes, my mentor kneed the man hard in the groin, sending him crumbling to the ground. Picking up the dropped gun, he delivered another sharp kick to the gut of the moaning man. "I'm keepin' this. An idiot like you might end up killin' yourself with this… although that wouldn't really be a bad thing…"

I couldn't help it. All the stress and tension of the night suddenly slid away and I found myself laughing hysterically. I didn't even realize that I'd fallen to my knees until my mentor hauled me up and dragged me towards the car. My hysterical laughter lasted throughout the short drive and didn't stop until my mentor pulled the SUV into an underground parking complex.

"Huh?" I gasped, winded from my long bout of laughter. "Where are we?"

"My place." He pulled the keys out of the ignition and opened the car door.

"What? But sir!" I protested as I slid out after him.

My mentor headed straight for the elevator and waited until I joined him before pushing the button for the second floor: 02. He didn't speak but stared blankly ahead, his silence continuing as we exited the elevator and he unlocked the door to room 202.

"Are you mad sir?" I ventured at last when he closed the door behind him and locked it.

"Hmm?" he asked, looking distracted. "Huh, no. Just thinkin', that's all. I put ya through too much kid. Not a good idea to send ya off home on your own. Plus… it's no fun drinkin' alone."

"Drinking?" I blinked before remembering that despite ordering, my mentor hadn't touched his drink at all tonight. I followed him into the living room which was surprisingly sparse and minimalistic considering that although not messy, my mentor's desk at work was… cluttered to put it nicely.

I took a seat on the couch while my mentor disappeared into the kitchen, presumably to get something to drink. He returned with a chilled six-pack of beer which he set on the low-lying coffee table. Grabbing a bottle for himself and tossing another bottle to me, he leaned back in his armchair, propped his socked feet up on the table and took a long swig from his bottle.

"Ah," he sighed. "Nothin' like a cold one after a long day's work."

"Umm… sir?"

"Yeah kid?" he lifted a brow at me before taking another swig.

"Are you ok sir?" I asked, taking a small sip of my own beer.

"Why do ya ask?"

"Well… you had many chances to disable that man before you took him down but… you baited him instead."

"Ah well. Force o' habit I guess. My mouth tends to get away from me. Plus, if I'd taken him down right away, he wouldn't have learned anything. He'd just come after me to get even or whatever."

"Oh," his logic made sense. No doubt that man last night would think twice before picking up another gun.

"How did you do it?"

"Oh, ya mean the magazine? Yeah, I picked it when he grabbed me. I'm so used to doin' it that it's practically second nature."

"But why did you stop me from showing my badge? I'm sure he would have thought twice about trying to mug you or pulling the gun on you…"

My mentor shrugged. "I didn't really want to advertise the fact that we were there."

"You mean you didn't want Agent Yuy to find out?" I don't know if it was the alcohol or just pure stupidity but the words tumbled unheeded from my mouth. Immediately recognizing my mistake, I felt a cold sweat cover my entire body.

Agent Maxwell's gaze chilled me to the bone. "You don't have a very high tolerance for alcohol, do you?" His switch to a suddenly cool and polished tone sent a shiver down my spine.

"I'm so sorry sir! I was completely out of line. Your personal life is your personal life and it's none of my business! I-" I hurriedly babbled out an apology.

"Cool it kid," my mentor interrupted me, his tone back to normal. "Heero won't care. He's half a million miles away anyways. Which reminds me, I told him I'd call him tonight." My mentor's tone was flat and lifeless as he spoke those words.

"I should get going then," I rose from my seat on the couch.

"Didn't I already say you bein' on your own tonight isn't a good idea? You can crash in the spare bedroom."

"I'm fine, really," I tried to protest. "I'm sorry about panicking outside the club, but I'm fine now sir! And I hope you won't hold it against me sir, because I'd really like to get out in the field sometime and…" I realized I was babbling aimlessly and stopped. "Anyways, I should be going." I headed towards the door.

"I know about your mother," my mentor told me quietly, his tone turning serious again. "In hindsight, I really shouldn't have brought you to the club."

His words stopped me dead in my tracks. "How do you know?"

"Well, it was more of a suspicion but it was confirmed when I saw how you reacted in the club."

"Oh."

"So come on, ya need some sleep kid!" My mentor returned to his friendly tone.

I followed him down the hall, noting the location of the bathroom as he pointed it out to me. He opened the second to last door in the hall and gestured me in. "Let me go grab you somethin' to sleep in." He entered the bedroom at the end of the hall and emerged with a Preventers T-shirt and a pair of sweats. "There should be an unused toothbrush in the top drawer of the bathroom," he informed me before disappearing back into the living room.

On autopilot, I changed into the clothes provided and found the unused toothbrush still in its packaging. After I finished brushing my teeth, I placed my toothbrush into the cup out of habit and blinked in surprise. There was only one other cup in the bathroom and it only held one toothbrush. Curious, I opened the medicine cabinet but found no other toothbrush. I found several bottles of prescription drugs, mostly painkillers, but they all bore the name of Agent Maxwell. I frowned in puzzlement. I knew that my superior always went home with Agent Yuy when he was in the office and I was under the impression that the two were living together.

I made my way back into the living room, just as my mentor hung up the phone with a muted 'talk to you later'.

"Did ya find everything?"

"Yes, thank you sir. Umm…"

"Yeah?"

"Agent Yuy won't mind me staying here?"

"Woah kid! I don't know what kind of impression I gave ya but I'm not expecting anythin' to happen between you an' me."

"No no no!" I waved my hands frantically, my cheeks heating up. "That's not what I meant. It's just… I'd heard that Agent Yuy is very particular about his space and I don't want to intrude or cause any trouble or…"

My mentor frowned in genuine puzzlement before barking out a laugh. "Stop worryin' so much kid. Besides, Heero doesn't live here, he's got a house in the 'burbs."

"Oh." I could only respond dumbly.

"Well, I'm gonna go get some shut-eye. Ya good kid?"

"Yes sir. Good night sir." I entered the spare bedroom and sat down on the bed, my mind racing from all the events of the past few hours. Office gossip said that the two agents were living together but the suburbs were on the opposite side of town while my mentor's apartment was only about a 15 minute drive from the recreation district. And then there was my mentor's surprise visit to the strip club, his going to a private room and then his behaviour in the parking lot.

I just didn't know what to believe anymore.

* * *

_AN: Hey y'all. So... completely blown away by all the feedback this story has been generating. Thank you for all your comments! It really means a lot to me if you take a few seconds to review. :) Also, thank you for all your patience! I realize I'm a slow writer/updater but well, this is a hobby and sadly I don't have too much free time. _

_See you next chapter! _

_(On the side note, I'm not the first to write from a different POV so I can't take credit for that but... I do hope that I can put my own spin on this with my 'unnamed' POV) _


	5. Second Thoughts

**DISCLAIMER:** Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

* * *

_**Second Thoughts**_

* * *

"Hey rookie! Ya finished on those time logs yet?" My mentor poked his head into the office.

"No, I'm still on Thursday's shifts sir."

"Still?" he frowned slightly before smiling again. "Leave it for now. Paperwork's overrated anyways. How about lunch? My treat of course!"

I glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Lunch? It's still 11 o'clock sir…"

"Why are you so stuck on the time kid? Lunch comes between breakfast and dinner, don't fuss so much about the time."

"I'm not hungry yet sir…" Commander Une's secretary had been here earlier to 'politely' remind me of the backlog in our division's time records.

"Aww, don't be like that kid. I heard about this new place I really want to try out, it's about an hour's drive so I'm sure you'll have worked up an appetite by then!" My mentor rocked back and forth on his heels, his excitement clear as day.

"An hour's drive?" My mentor's behaviour had been growing stranger by the day. No one could fault his work, but he had taken to disappearing at random times and reappearing without a word of explanation. He would always come back with a cheery smile, but it was in the small silences when he thought no one was looking that his cheery smile dropped and he started to look… frustrated was the best way I could describe it. Although his body language sometimes spoke of a great weariness, his eyes burned bright with feverish intensity, like a bloodhound hot on the scent.

"Ah fine," he shrugged. "I'll go on my own."

"Wait!" I called after him hastily as he turned to leave. If the restaurant or deli or wherever my mentor was planning on going was an hour's drive away, there had to be good reason. My mentor clearly had an ulterior motive I just couldn't figure out what; not that I'd ever had any success in figuring out my mentor's seemingly random thought process. I decided not to dwell too much on it; I was already ready to punch a hole in the wall from the irritation I felt from sifting through never-ending spreadsheets. Trying to puzzle out my mentor's objectives would only add to my burgeoning headache.

"I could use a break sir," I told him, gesturing to the mass of spreadsheets that cluttered my monitor.

The wide grin I received in reply was almost blinding. "Alright!" he exclaimed as he slapped me on the shoulder. "You're driving!" he tossed me his keys as we rode the elevator down to the parking garage.

"Uh sir?" I wondered as I barely managed to catch the keys.

My mentor made a beeline for the passenger-side door of his black SUV after we had exited the elevator. With a small amount of hesitation, I slid into the driver's seat and turned the ignition. "Where to, sir?"

Agent Maxwell tapped the GPS to life before leaning back in his seat and languidly fastening his seat-belt. "Destination's already programmed in," he informed me as I pulled out of the underground parkade. I glanced at the pre-programmed co-ordinates and noted that our destination was two towns over in New-Prague. Ironically, New-Prague was nowhere near where the original city was located. I chalked it up to nostalgic and senile politicians that had nothing better to do.

Five-minutes into our drive, the reason for my driving became apparent when my mentor grabbed a set of well-thumbed books from the backseat. Sliding his seat back and propping his feet up on the dashboard, my mentor began to flip through one of the books, his eyes scanning the pages as he jotted down some notes with a pencil every once in a while.

"What are you reading sir?" The books were all plain-bound, their covers giving no indication of their contents.

"Hmm?" my mentor responded in a distracted tone, chewing on the end of his pencil. "Oh… just some psych and what not." From his preoccupied tone, I could tell that my mentor was not in the mood for conversation but was focused solely on his reading.

We drove in silence for about half-an-hour before my mentor looked up from his most recent book, a pensive crease lining his brow. "Have you ever been in love?"

"Errr…" my foot on the pedal faltered for a moment. "What do you mean sir?"

"I mean a feeling so intense that nothing else matters. A feeling so powerful that it drives you to do crazy things… but the thing is… you somehow warp your mind into thinking that what you're doing is reasonable, logical even. A feeling so extreme that it makes you desperate… so desperate that it somehow turns into hate… and even then, you can't stop loving, stop trying to please… clawing so desperately for that something that's always just out of your reach. Sometimes you think it's at your fingertips, hell, sometimes you even think that you've managed to grab a hold of it… only to find that it crumbles to dust in your hand… Other times… it seems so far away, all you can feel is despair but you keep dragging yourself forward, even if each step only makes you fall harder, deeper until you don't even know where the hell you're going anymore, that you're so fucking lost, nothing makes sense anymore. You want to let go, to stop reaching, but you can't stop… you can't fucking stop…" My mentor's rant trailed off into a whisper.

"No sir..." I whispered back after a moment, shaken to the core by Agent Maxwell's near fanatical rant.

"No?" my mentor parroted back. Gone was his serious tone and now his voice was bordering on mocking. "Ya must be lucky then… or unlucky… depends on how ya look at it. Or maybe ya just haven't realized it yet…"

I didn't know how to respond so hummed a noncommittal answer and continued to follow the route set out on the navigation system.

"I think… Maxine… she was in love, desperately in love with Gothe. But she hated him at the same time… despised him. But she convinced herself to stay loyal to the end… at least she thought she did. But funny thing… the mind and heart are completely different things. In fact," my mentor barked out a laugh, "it's rarer that they're ever in sync. So she thought she was being the loyal soldier to the end… but her heart, it was set on vengeance. Revenge is a hard drug to give up… even if you know the high never lasts, and that each time it tastes a little less sweet but the fall is that much more painful…"

"Sir?" I prodded when he fell silent again.

"Maxine was the Raven."

"The Raven?"

"Maxine was Gothe's 'cleaner'. She took care of his messes, she did the dirty work, all like a faithful lapdog, but at the very end, she couldn't do it anymore. _Nevermore._ But she was loyal as hell… I mean, looking at the things she's done for him, it'd take a lot to shake her loyalty like that. Hell, she fuckin' worshipped Gothe like a god. So kid… what makes someone stop worshiping a god?"

"… you lose your faith somehow? Or you find another god?"

My mentor turned sharply in his seat to look at me. "You're more insightful than you let on… aren't ya kid? So, what makes someone lose faith?"

"Betrayal?"

"Bingo."

"So the new lover?"

"Yep," my mentor nodded, folding his arms behind his head as he leaned back in his seat. "But Gothe's had dozens of lovers. In fact, I'd wager a hundred creds that Maxine Lestelle was never his lover."

"She wasn't?"

"The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced Gothe never crossed that line with her. See, you don't become the world's most feared terrorist without having some brains… And Gothe's as sharp as they come. He most likely knew that crossing that line can take away the mystery, the magic. After all, once you get something you want, nine times out of ten, you find out that you don't want it anymore."

"So, there was something different about the last woman?"

"Mmmm... so what would suddenly make her feel betrayed after years of countless other women?"

"I don't know sir…"

"Could be a lot of things… but I think I finally managed to wrap my head around it… See, it's no secret that Gothe couldn't keep it in his pants and he's as far from the commitment type as you can get. He's never been short on cash and his tastes ran high, usually top-priced escorts. So I figure Maxine could reason it away, to convince herself that they didn't matter. After all, she was the one he relied on, trusted with important tasks. The girls were just paid sex; all those girls did was take the edge off his raging libido. But this new girl, she took that all away. She actually replaced her, no, she _surpassed_ her. Not only did she warm his bed, she played the role of confidant and trusted right-hand man, well, woman."

"So how did Maxine get her revenge?"

"She showed us Gothe's weakness. He's a man in the throes of love, so utterly devoted that it's causing him to lose his mind. Gothe has never had trouble cutting people loose, I mean, look at Maxine. But I'm guessin' it's different with this new girl… he'd do anything for her. We find the girl, we got Gothe dancin' in the palm of our hand."

"I though the woman in the poem, Lenore, she was dead?" I wondered.

"Yeah, I had trouble with that too. But here's the kicker, I think we got it wrong, I don't think the new woman is 'Lenore'. See, most commentary points to a dead wife. I'm thinking that Maxine was hinting to look at his past, to find the 'wife'. Maxine cleaned up a lot of messes for Gothe, I'm guessing that this woman from the past holds a particular significance to Gothe."

I could feel Agent Maxwell's gaze on me as he revealed his thoughts on 'Lenore'. I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. After all, he had kept his gaze on the road for most of our conversation. "It sounds like a very plausible theory sir," I said when I couldn't take it anymore.

I glanced over when my mentor didn't respond only to find him once more engrossed in his books.

* * *

"This place is… interesting…" I commented once we had been seated. "I didn't know that you were into Vegan cuisine sir."

"Organic and mostly local too," my mentor added as he opened the menu. "Heero's always been on my case to improve my diet. Says I eat too much fast food."

"Oh." I scanned the menu and found most of the entrees unappetizing at best.

"Are you ready to order?" A dark-haired, tattooed waitress asked us as she set two glasses of water on the table.

"Yeah, I'll have the 'Soy Burger' with a side of kale salad. What about you kid?"

"Umm… I'll have the chili," I answered.

"Coming right up!" the waitress answered with false cheerfulness as she collected our menus.

"So umm…" I began, casting about for a topic before I remembered the books my mentor had been reading throughout our drive. "Why books?"

My mentor raised a questioning eyebrow as he took a sip of his water. "What about them?"

"Well, couldn't you have just downloaded them all to your tablet?"

Agent Maxwell shrugged. "I suppose. But there's something about books and reading things on paper. It's more personal. It's silly I know, but it just feels… well, different, like I see things I wouldn't usually see. Plus, I like collectin' them."

"The covers of your books were all plain," I observed.

"Yeah, I replaced all the covers."

"Why?"

My mentor smiled wryly. "Oh, just this hang-up I have. You know the saying 'Never judge a book by its cover?'".

"I see."

My mentor didn't attempt to continue the conversation but instead started to gaze at the building across the street. I couldn't find anything else to talk about so I decided to scrutinize the building as well. As far as buildings went, it looked like an ordinary business-residential complex with businesses lining the bottom floors and apartments occupying the top floors. The exterior looked like the buildings around it: clearly built to mimic the architecture of the old city but newly constructed with state of the art technology.

Our attention was diverted when the waitress returned with our orders. At least the chili looked somewhat normal. My mentor's burger had a green hue to it and his salad didn't look much more appetizing either.

"Dig in!" my mentor told me as he bit into his burger with forced gusto. "This is… terrible," my mentor admittedly sheepishly after a few bites. "How's yours?"

"Alright sir," I replied out of politeness. "Ok fine. Passable at best," I amended after a pointed look from my mentor.

My mentor grinned at me as we did our best to choke down the rest of our meals. To his credit, Agent Maxwell finished every last bite of his food. After getting used to the taste and the lack of meat, I had to admit that my chili wasn't half bad.

"Any dessert?" the waitress asked as she collected our plates.

"Umm… no, I think I'm good," my mentor replied, looking a little green around the edges. "Kid?"

"No thank you."

"Bring us the check?" my mentor gave the waitress his best grin.

"Sure thing!"

My mentor turned again to gaze out the window until the waitress returned with the bill. "Thanks hun!" he told her as he passed her a couple of bills.

"Damn, as much I think Heero'd approve of this place, I don't think I could get through another lunch here without running for the nearest fast food joint," my mentor commented as we exited the café. "Can't say I feel any healthier either…"

"I think it takes more than one meal sir."

"Haha! True enough kid, true enough. Well, sorry lunch was a bust. Next time we'll stuff ourselves silly with some good ol' fashioned burgers and fries."

"I'd like that sir. If I may ask sir… why did we drive an hour to come here?"

"Hmm? Oh well, I thought I'd surprise Heero by takin' him to a nice healthy lunch or dinner when he gets back and this place got pretty good reviews for a vegan place. It's pretty hard to find a decent place, ya know?"

I just nodded as I slid once more into the driver's seat. My mentor never lied, he just never told the whole truth. I didn't doubt that he wanted to find a new place to dine with Agent Yuy, but there were dozens of vegan cafes like this one back in Sanq. Maybe he wanted to find a place away from prying eyes or….? My mind ran through various scenarios as I pulled out of the parking lot and my mentor delved into his books once more.

* * *

_AN: New chap up. Decided to keep it shorter, plus I'm about to fall asleep and I really need to study for exams... I'm going to fail ._

_Anyways, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews! The feedback I've been getting for this story is amazing. I hope this new chapter doesn't disappoint. If there are more typos/mistakes than usual, sorry, my brain's running on empty these days. Anyways, let me know what you guys think! Reviews always brighten my day and help me keep the story going! _

_No more new chaps in exams are over. Do not tempt me! :P _


	6. Second Home

**DISCLAIMER:** Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

* * *

_**Second Home **_

* * *

I awoke to someone banging on my door. It might have started out as a polite knock - it took me awhile to banish the sleepy cobwebs from my mind - but it had been steadily increasing in volume until I honestly feared that my door was about to be kicked down.

"Coming!" I shouted as I hastily threw on a shirt and hurried towards the door, wondering what my mentor wanted this time. As much as I respected him, I hoped his coming over to my apartment on my days off wouldn't become a habit of his.

"Coming!" I shouted again as I finally reached the door and irritably wrenched it open. My mouth dropped open in shock when instead of finding my mentor, I came face to face with a scowling Agent Wufei Chang.

"Why do I keep getting your voicemail!?" he growled at me before I could even say anything.

"Sir?"

"I've been calling you since 0500 and I've been getting nothing but your voicemail!" he snapped at me as he marched past me into my apartment. "And after five hours of no answer, I find myself _compelled_ to come here!" He snatched my cell phone from the kitchen counter before throwing it back down in disgust. "No battery," his scowl deepened. "Rookie or not, an agent must always ensure that he is within reach. If you cannot remember to charge your phone every night, then buy extra battery cells!"

"Umm… coffee sir?" I asked tentatively as I reached for the coffee pot. I had no idea what was going on but I felt like I might need some as I watched Agent Chang pace around my cramped living room. He reminded me of a caged tiger, all muscle and restrained power. I could even imagine the tail that would be lashing back and forth in irritation.

"No," he replied tersely before suddenly pausing in his pacing and taking a deep - and presumably calming - breath. "On second thought, I think I would like one."

"Sure thing," I replied automatically, freezing when I realized that my mentor's nonchalant attitude had been rubbing off on me as of late. "Here you are sir," I told him as a slid the mug across the counter to him. "Cream or sugar?" I asked him as I dribbled a liberal dose of milk into my mug until I had more milk than coffee. Wimpy I know, but I'm a caffeine addict with a weak stomach.

"No thank you. I take my coffee black. Sit down agent," Agent Chang told me as he took a seat at my dining table, wrapping his hands around his mug after taking a small sip. "We have a serious matter to discuss."

I sat down, still in disbelief that Agent Chang was in my dingy apartment, sitting at my dining room table and looking… shaken.

"Sir?" I prompted but my superior seemed to be lost in his own world, staring the inky black of is coffee.

"Maxwell was abducted last night," he stated softly, finally breaking the tense silence.

I blinked, coffee mug stilled halfway to my mouth. "Come again sir? He was _abducted_?" My sleep fogged brain unhelpfully provided me with images of Agent Maxwell being beamed up into a spaceship, guns blazing and his long braid trailing behind him. My superior seemed to have notice that I wasn't quite grasping the situation.

"He was taken by Gothe's men," he told me bluntly.

I set my coffee mug down with a bang, its milky contents sloshing onto my hand and table. Not that it mattered, the cold rush of adrenaline had replaced my need for caffeine. "H-how? When? W-where?" I stammered out in a rush.

"At 2047 last night, Maxwell was grabbed from the underground parking lot of his apartment complex," Agent Chang narrated as he pushed his cell phone towards me, a grainy security video was playing on its screen. "As far as we can tell, it's a four-man job. Three to grab him plus the driver."

I watched the video with growing horror. "He didn't fight back…" I whispered. "He had at least three openings to take them out, I'm sure you can find more…"

Agent Chang nodded. "Maxwell did say you had very good observation skills."

"But why?"

"No doubt Gothe is getting impatient. He has something planned and whatever it is that he has planned, he needs Maxwell for it. As for Maxwell… well, there's no doubt he knew that the men were sent by Gothe and he must have realized their intentions. I suspect, no I know, that the idiot let himself be taken. In fact, I'm even willing to consider the possibility that he baited those men into taking him; that it is all part of some elaborate plan he's been working on for the past few weeks."

"Plan?"

"Don't play dumb with me agent," Agent Chang's annoyance was clear even though he refrained from raising his voice at me. "Maxwell has busy these past few weeks, undoubtedly cooking up one of his ludicrous schemes." The next part was mumbled under his breath, he probably didn't realize it or he didn't think I could hear him. "It is a miracle Yuy doesn't have a head full of gray hairs with all the stunts Maxwell pulls…"

"Umm…. I don't really know what he's planning, honestly sir." I offered tentatively when he glared at me for an answer. "I know he's been preoccupied with the Gothe case and Maxine Lestelle's suicide but… I'm not privy to any of the details sir, honestly."

"I know that," Agent Chang snapped. "He's not stupid enough to give away his plan to someone who can easily be tortured for it."

I froze, feeling the blood drain from my face.

Agent Chang raised a hand in supplication. "I apologize, I let my temper get away from me." He took a deep breath before continuing. "It would appear that Maxwell has taken you under his wing, and that you have accompanied him on several non-sanctioned, no that is not the proper term… you have gone on several… _personal _excursions with Maxwell as well as acted as a sounding board for his theories."

"How did you know?"

"Maxwell is the type to attract attention, he likely used you as a buffer. Also, Maxwell is a chatty creature, he does his best work when he can voice his thoughts and get feedback."

"But I just listened… I mean, I didn't even really add anything of value to his theories and he already had all the answers…"

Wufei gave a wan smile that couldn't mask the fondness that was hidden underneath. "He has pegged you as having good instincts. He tells you not to hear your opinion, but to see your reaction. Bringing you along for his… let us say, 'reconnaissance missions' was also to see your reaction as well as for the camouflage." He pulled out a notebook and pencil, shooting me a significant look. "I'm waiting agent."

* * *

My coffee was stone cold by the time I finished outlining my conversations and excursions with Agent Maxwell. I thought my face would catch on fire when I revealed our visit to the strip club but Agent Chang didn't seem the least bit perturbed or even surprised. It made me wonder if my mentor often frequented strip clubs and it left me with a queasy feeling in my stomach. I pushed it down, wanting very badly to believe in the mentor that I respected so much.

"Very well, I think we are done for now," Agent Chang announced as he slipped his notebook and pencil into his inner coat pocket. "Maxwell clearly found something. Whether it was Gothe's new lover or the 'Lenore' of his past I am not sure."

As if on cue, Agent Chang's phone rang and he answered with a clipped "Chang speaking."

He listened for a few moments before nodding. "Is that so? I understand, I will look into it. No, we are not making it public... no, no the rookie hasn't been able to shed too much light on what Maxwell uncovered. I would deduce that it has something to do with a woman somehow connected to Gothe, but I do not care to speculate farther than that. Calm down Yuy, breathing down my neck is not going to change anything. Do not snap at me! My hands are equally as tied as yours; hassling me is not going to make the situation any better! If you are so anxious you can return and help with the investigation! No? Maxwell wouldn't forgive you? What sort of nonsense is that? No, no do not involve me the jumbled mess you two call a relationship. I honestly do not understand the bizarre rules you two have set for the nonsensical game you two seem to be playing."

Agent Chang disconnected the line with a frustrated growl. "We are leaving!" he snapped at me.

"Where are we going sir?" I asked as I grabbed my coat.

"Yuy's house. Apparently Maxwell had called Yuy from there last week. He might have left something there that will give us some clue as to what he is planning."

"Is Agent Yuy returning?"

"No," my superior told me curtly as he slipped on his shoes and pushed open my door. "He will stay with that wo-," he cleared his throat, "with Foreign Minister until her tour of the colonies ends. I do not believe it will be long now."

"I see." I hoped that I had managed to keep the disdain from my voice but given the sharp look Agent Chang gave me out of the corner of his eye, I guessed that I had been less than successful. Although I'd only caught a glimpse of Agent Yuy a few times and had never met the man personally, I couldn't help the resentment building in my stomach. Agent Maxwell was one of the most admirable men I had ever met. I wouldn't begrudge Agent Yuy his relationship with the Relena Peacecraft, that was his business. But to string along Agent Maxwell like that… that was just too cruel.

* * *

Roughly thirty minutes later we pulled up in front of a small cottage-like house, complete with a white picket fence. I blinked in shock when Agent Chang pulled his keys from the ignition and exited the vehicle. This was Agent Yuy's house? I didn't exactly know what I expected, but I couldn't reconcile this cozy little house with the most famous and respected agent of the organization.

I followed warily after my superior as he unlocked the picket gate and proceeded towards the front door. According to the rumour mill, Agent Yuy was fiercely protective of his privacy, so I kept expecting some booby trap or alarm to be triggered. Agent Chang seemed to have none of these concerns when he calmly unlocked the door – with what I assumed was a spare key – and gestured for me to hurry up. I entered the small dwelling, expecting to be greeted with an interior furnished but with all the latest technologies but… to sum it up in one word, the house was 'homey'. The interior was trimmed mostly with wood, the walls were a soft cream colour and even the furniture looked well-worn and comfortable. Unlike the starkness of Agent Maxwell's apartment, the living room was filled with numerous knick knacks, pictures and books. And most surprising of all, there wasn't a single electronic device or computer in sight. In short, minus the lack of technology, this living room looked more like what I had initially expected Agent Maxwell's living room to look like.

I poked my head into the combined kitchen and dining room to find it comfortable and inviting. The shelves were lined with what looked like antique chinaware, no two plates or cups the same. It looked as though someone had lovingly selected each piece to form this mismatched but endearing collection. Even each piece of glassware was unique. I shook my head in disbelief and half expected some old retired couple to come in and demand what I was doing in their home.

"Upstairs!" Agent Chang commanded from the stairs.

I hurried up the stairs to join my superior on the second floor. There were only two rooms. One was a bedroom and the other was a study filled with all the latest technological gadgets and computers. Finally I could somewhat reconcile this room with the rumours surrounding Agent Yuy, but what I didn't expect were all the odd little gadgets littering the shelves on the wall. In fact, many of those looked like the gadgets my mentor liked to tinker with during tedious department meetings.

"I'll see if Maxwell left any clues here, you go check the bedroom," Agent Chang ordered as he seated himself in front of one of the computers.

"Yes sir," I nodded and entered the bedroom. I understood why I was delegated the bedroom, Agent Yuy most likely had highly classified information on his computers, information that was far beyond my security clearance. I mused to myself that my security clearance must be the highest among the rookies right now, given the fact that I had been pulled into the Maxine Lestelle case, half by chance and half through my mentor's doing. I froze in dread, suddenly wondering if I actually did have the requisite clearance, or if this was all 'off the books'. The office buzz was that the former gundam pilots often performed 'off the books' investigations, sometimes with the Commander's blessing, most often times not, but they were never officially reprimanded for it. But God help any other agent that presumed to do the same. I'd worked hard to join Preventers, it had always been a childhood dream of mine to be one of the 'good guys'. I pushed fear for my job to the side, my mentor was missing and I was going to do whatever I could to try and find him.

I did a quick sweep of the bedroom. There wasn't much in the way of furniture: a large bed, king-sized I guessed, bedside tables on both sides and one large antique wood wardrobe. I opened the wardrobe first and found it filled with Preventer-issued workout gear, socks, underwear and other nondescript items such as sweats and cotton shirts. I blinked when one of the drawers revealed several of my mentor's casual T-shirts, well-worn and adorned with corny slogans. I opened the closet doors next to find the closet evenly divided with Preventers dress uniforms hanging pristinely at each end. Sandwiched in between were various shirts, slacks and jeans but it was very clear that these clothes belonged to two very different men. I glanced at the shoes lined up neatly on the floor, noticing a pair of my mentor's black boots and a beat-up pair of converse sneakers. Opposite his shoes were a pair of highly polished dress shoes and next to them were the rattiest pair of yellow sneakers I had ever seen.

I closed the closet doors and examined the bedside tables next. The one on the left side was pristine with only a lamp on its surface. I opened the drawer to find an e-reader, a pad of paper and a pen. Noticing that the drawer seemed too shallow, I peered under the opened drawer to find a compact-model gun tapped to the bottom of the drawer. I moved to the right-hand table next and noted a stack of books that looked familiar; some of them were the ones Agent Maxwell had had with him on our trip to New-Prague. I slid open the drawer and closed hastily with my cheeks flaming when I spotted an open box of condoms and several bottles of lube. Moving on, I checked under the bed but only found another gun strapped to the underside of the bed.

I examined the bathroom next but found nothing of any real interest. I did note, however, that there was two of everything. Two different brands of shampoo, body wash, deodorant, mouthwash, even toothpaste. There were also two toothbrushes, one plain and practical, the other a burst of colours, sitting innocently in a single cup. I made my way back into the bedroom and picked up the stack of books from the right-hand bedside table. My mind was whirling. To all outward appearances, the bedroom, no, the entire house spoke of the co-habitation of my mentor and Agent Yuy. So why did my mentor have his own apartment?

My thoughts were distracted by a steady chanting of what sounded like 'nah nah nah nah' in a child-like, taunting tone. I approached the study, wondering how Agent Chang was faring with the computers. To all accounts, Agent Chang was a formidable agent, unrivaled in any form of hand-to-hand combat but I'd never heard anything about his computer skills.

I entered the study with my armful of books to find my superior irritably typing away at lightning speed while a small animated demon danced on the screen next to a line of scrolling code, alternating between dancing, sticking out its tongue in a teasing manner and wagging it's bottom, complete with spiked tail, at my frustrated superior. Mentally, I corrected my earlier assumption. The computer my superior was currently seated in front of clearly belonged to Agent Maxwell, not Agent Yuy.

"Oh! So close Chang! But no cigar! Nah nah nah nah nah!" the demon crowed, going back to making faces and sticking out its tongue.

"Ancestors give me patience to deal with this fool's programming," Agent Chang muttered under his breath as he continued type furiously. Soon the computer beeped and the scrolling code disappeared. The animated demon on the screen suddenly stopped its dancing and stood still, shoulders slumped. "Awww… you win Chang," it informed him in a dejected tone.

"Hmph!" my superior snorted as he plugged in a flashdrive and downloaded several files. "Something amusing agent?" he asked without turning around.

"Well, umm sir… it's just that…"

"Maxwell has entirely too much time on his hands," my superior interrupted me.

"But isn't it prudent to protect the data?"

Agent Chang snorted. "If Maxwell really wanted to protect that data, even Yuy with his unparalleled hacking skills would be hard-pressed to retrieve the data."

"Sir?"

"While Maxwell lacks the sophistication and elegance of Yuy when it comes to programming, his random and… _creative_ code more than makes up for his lack of skill. No, this program he deliberately created, in his ridiculously annoying fashion, for me so I could retrieve the files he'd left for me; more evidence that he had been anticipating his kidnapping. What have you found agent?" he asked me as he pulled out the flashdrive and left the study, closing the door firmly behind him.

"Just these books sir," I replied as I followed him down the stairs. "Agent Maxwell had been reading them recently. I don't know if it will be of much help but…"

"Nothing is insignificant," Agent Chang informed. "We will bring them back to headquarters."

"Umm… sir?"

Agent Chang glanced at me after locking the front door. "Yes agent?"

"Umm… I know it's really none of my business but… umm… does Agent Maxwell live here with Agent Yuy?"

"You are right, it is none of your business," my superior informed me curtly as he slid into the driver's side of the Preventers issued SUV. "But I am sure you already know the answer to that question."

"But… Agent Maxwell still has his own apartment," I persisted, buckling my seatbelt.

"Maxwell is stubborn. A word of advice agent, once Maxwell digs his heels in, it is almost impossible to dissuade him. That is why you always need a plan B when it comes to Maxwell."

I dropped my questions after that, sensing that Agent Chang would volunteer nothing further. Instead, I mulled over his last statement for the duration of the ride back to headquarters.

* * *

The next day, I found myself sitting idly in my apartment, unsure of what to do with myself. Today was my usual day off and Agent Chang had curtly informed me that I was no longer needed until notified otherwise. But no matter how I tried to preoccupy myself, I couldn't sit still. A deep-seated anxiousness had started in the pit of my stomach and was slowly working its way up. I felt frustrated that I couldn't do anything but wait helplessly until I was called.

I stared blankly at the television screen as I wracked my brain for clues; anything, any small detail that I might have overlooked. 'Nothing is insignificant.' Agent Chang's words echoed in my head. Something was nagging at the corners of my mind but I just couldn't figure out what. What was it?

'Listen to yer gut kid.'

It slammed into me, the uneasy feeling that had been bubbling at the surface all this time.

I grabbed my coat, shoved my feet into my boots and ran towards the bus stop. I just managed to catch bus as it was about to pull away from the stop closest to my home. Five stops later and I disembarked at the train station. Moments later I was on the train headed two-towns over to New Prague.

The train ride lasted a little over an hour and a short bus ride later, I found myself in front of the Vegan café I had visited with my mentor only a few days ago. The evening sky was already starting to darken and there were very few customers left in the café. I turned my attention to the building across it and after a moment's hesitation, entered the lobby. I studied the building's directory, quickly disregarding most but one business caught my eye in particular.

_Madame Midnight's Matchmaking Services_

I stared long and hard at the name, wondering why it had caught my attention. I had no desire to be in the market and other offices such as the law firms and accountants offices were logically of more interest.

I mulled the name over several times in my head. Madame Midnight. And then it struck me. '_Once upon a midnight dreary_…"the opening lines of "The Raven"! I had read the poem so many times in hopes of aiding my mentor that I had practically memorized it word for word. This had to have been my mentor's objective!

I realized that I'd been getting puzzled looks for a while now and hurried back outside. I headed towards the closest bus stop, intent on getting back to headquarters as soon as possible. As I was walking, I pulled out my cellphone and dialed the private number Agent Chang had given me, cursing under my breath when it continued to ring.

"Chang here," the line connected at last. My superior's voice was harsh and clipped. I realized I had probably interrupted him.

"Agent Chang sir, I knew you told me not to use this number unless it was an emergency but…" I stumbled to get an apology out.

"Get to the point agent!"

"It's about Agent Maxwell sir. I think I've figure out what he was-"

My phone fell from my nerveless fingers and the last thing I remembered was the pavement rushing up to meet my face.

* * *

_AN: Hullo all! I hope everyone's had a very Merry Christmas! (And a Happy New Year to those that have already crossed over in 2013!) _

_Sorry to end it on a cliff-hanger but the chapter would have been too long otherwise. I've been getting a lot of comments on the lack of Heero. I had initially planned to have him in the story from the very beginning but decided that the story would be more effective if he was absent for a while. Anyways, the plan is to have him finally make an appearance in the next chapter or the one after that. I know my slow-style of story telling isn't everyone's cup of tea but I'm greatful to everyone who has continued to read up this point and thank you thank you thank you for all the reviews! They really help me get a sense of what's working and how the story is perceived by you, the readers. _

_Anyways, I wish everyone a Happy New Year! _


	7. Second Rate

**DISCLAIMER:** Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

* * *

_**Second Rate**_

* * *

My head throbbed in time with my rapidly beating heart. I could hear sounds of a muffled argument; disjointed snippets flitting in and out between the harsh ringing in my ears.

"… caught him sniffing around… where…"

"… could he… nothing special…"

"… he's Maxwell's bitch… that bastard's still being…"

"be dead soon enough… how did he find…"

"… about Ebony."

"Shut the fuck up… we ain't supposed to… mistress"

"… tell boss?"

"… kill him…"

"… he'll be pissed… don't be a moron…"

"… can't attract attention… it'll all be over…"

"… sit tight for another…"

I forced my eyes open but all I saw was black. It felt like my head was going to split open when my body was jostled. Disoriented, it took me several long moments to realize that I was in the trunk of a moving car. At least, that was my best guess. I rolled myself over, frantically wondering what protocol was for escaping from the trunk of a moving vehicle. I came up empty. After all, escaping from the trunk of a moving car wasn't part of standardized Preventers training drills. I had to force down a hysterical laugh and began to blindly feel the space around me. My hand encountered a sticky pool which I soon identified as blood, probably my blood. I continued to scrabble around, trying to find something I could use as a weapon, the latch of the trunk, anything.

I cursed as the car seemed to turn down a rural, run-down road. I could hear pieces of gravel bouncing off the undercarriage of the car. The pain in my head intensified as my body was jostled like ragdoll. The car drove over a particularly deep pothole and my head connected heavily with the top of the trunk and my world faded out once more.

* * *

"... rid of him!" A low voice rumbled.

"Boss'll be mad." A second, hoarser voice answered. I recognized it from my time locked in the trunk.

"Boss don't wanna be bothered with small fry like him. He's still waiting on an answer from ESUN." The first voice answered.

I tried to open my eyes to get a look at the two men but the light was too blinding.

"Plus he's still preoccupied with his new toy." This new voice was rough and low, but unmistakably female. I imagined a woman not unlike the Commander's secretary, minus the severe bun, the horn-rimmed glasses and the dull pant-suits. Ok, so she didn't resemble Une's secretary all that much…

"The Maxwell guy? Why hasn't Boss killed him yet?" My mind slammed into focus at the mention of my mentor.

"He's still got his uses. It'll be over soon though. And bang! He's swimming with the fishes! Hear Boss is gonna make it public, show the world the fall of a _hero_."

"When's it goin' down?" The first voice sounded eager. I imagined a puppy with its ears perked up and head canted to the side. A very ugly puppy. The man, after all, was slobbering over the prospect of killing my mentor.

"I hear less than 72 hours…" The woman answered. I could hear the eagerness in her voice too.

"So let's kill 'im!" The first voice practically oozed with glee.

"Suppose it couldn't hurt… things are goin' down soon anyways." The second voice joined in again. In a weirdly detached manner, I belatedly realize that they were talking about me. About killing me. Oh.

"No!" The female voice snapped. "We can't go around attracting attention like that…"

"We can't keep 'im here. Plus Preventers're gonna figure out he's missin'."

"You're right." The woman seemed to be the most logic-minded of the three. "The Preventers won't brush it off like a coincidence."

"We make it look like an accident or a suicide. We could even use his body to throw them off our trail." A fourth, calm voice entered the conversation.

"Shit!" The owner of the hoarse voice exclaimed. I decided to call him 'Pothole' because I was still smarting from the bumpy ride to… who knows where. I wondered if my wandering thoughts were an indication of brain damage. Or maybe it was symptom of my undesirable heritage. I stubbornly pushed those unwanted thoughts aside and tried to refocus on the situation at hand.

"You have a nasty habit of sneaking up announced." The woman commented.

"Yeah, it's creepy as hell!" 'Pothole' croaked out.

"You could argue about what to do with him for another hour… or you could just let me take care of it." The voice was soothing in a way; a soft balm to my pounding head.

"And why should we trust you to take care of it?" The woman retorted.

"I'll take full responsibility with the Boss if something goes wrong."

"I got nothin' against that!" The first voice rejoined the conversation. "The less I see of you, the better!"

"Fine," Not-Une's secretary finally agreed. "But this is on your head. The slightest screw-up and I'm calling the boss. And I'll take great pleasure in putting a bullet in between your eyes when he gives the order to dispose of your sorry ass."

The soothing voice didn't answer. Instead, I felt myself being lifted from the ground, the blood rushing to my pounding head.

* * *

I could hear the faint purring of a well-tuned engine. I was in a moving car again and my head was still pounding. I groaned inwardly. There was no doubt about it. I was to spend the last moments of my life stuffed in a trunk…

I wasn't in a trunk.

No, I was sitting propped up in the passenger seat. I could even feel the seatbelt pressing against my chest, holding me in place. I cracked my eyes open and felt something pull at my eyebrow. Tentatively, I reached up and felt above my eye. My breath stilled when my fingers traced around the contours of a butterfly bandage. I reached further up and encountered something cold. It was a cold compress. Seemed like a pointless endeavor when I was going to be killed anyways.

Blearily, I forced my eyes to open further. My vision was blurry but I could just make out smudges of green and yellow. After a couple of blinks my vision sharpened to focus on vast fields of corn running parallel to the road. My stomach fell. In Europe, corn only grew in Old Romania. Even if I managed to escape, I was too far from any Preventers branch. And Old Romania was famous for being full of recluses, those who shunned the modern world and preferred to live in the ways of the old. I wasn't going to find any help here. I should know; after all, I was born here.

With great effort, I forced my head to turn towards the driver's side, hoping to get a glimpse of the driver. Stars swam in my vision at the effort. When the stars finally cleared, I felt the car pulling over and slowing to a stop.

So this was the end.

"You won't win," I croaked out. Stupid, yes. But it was all my aching head could come up with.

"Defiant to the end," the man in the driver's seat turned to face me, long hair covering half his face. "You remind me of someone I know." It was the owner of the soothing voice, my executioner.

With enviably fluid motions, my executioner exited the car and came around to the passenger side. When he leaned over me to undo my seatbelt, I managed to catch a glimpse of green eyes. I scanned his face and hands for any identifiable birthmarks, moles or tattoo but found none.

Mentally I compiled a list: Caucasian, tall, over six feet, slender build, brown hair and green eyes. I had to give credit to the Preventers. Even in situations like this, my training managed to kick in. Not that it would do anyone much good though. After all, dead men don't talk.

I felt myself being lifted with embarrassing ease and soon I was being carried into the nearby cornfield. Moments later, I was lowered to the ground and stared up into the face of a grinning scarecrow. Memories of my childhood came rushing back; running through the endless cornfields as a small child, imagining faraway lands and talking to the only person who would listen: the worn out and deflated scarecrow on my grandparents' farm. At least I would die in a familiar presence. As much as I resented my roots, a cornfield was better than some dark alley, or even the depths of some lake or ocean.

My vision of the grinning scarecrow was obstructed when my executioner crouched down next to me. Wringing up the last of my courage, I gazed up at my executioner, hoping that none of my fear bled through. If I was going to die, I wanted to face death head-on, just like my mentor had countless times. I liked to imagine that he would fight to the last breath, and even if his body gave out, his spirit would battle on to the end. I was nothing like my mentor, but if I could become a little more like him in death, then so be it. After all, I was nothing but a nameless, faceless rookie among hundreds. But at least I had managed to meet someone I admired and respected beyond all else. And for a short time, he had taken me under his wing. Given my history, that was more than I could have asked for.

Despite all my inner bravado, I flinched when my executioner reached for me. I couldn't help it. I was terrified. But the final blow never came. I blinked in shock when he tucked something into my shirt pocket, rose, and walked away, never once looking back. Seconds later, I heard the engine start and the car drove away, leaving me alone in the middle of a sea of waving corn.

Numb, I stared up into the face of my grinning companion.

He had no answers.

* * *

A steady beeping nagged at the edges of my consciousness. I tried to ignore it, but the incessant beeping continued, increasing slightly in speed. My mind screamed at me to wake up but I resisted, afraid of the pain that would follow. Except, for the first time in what felt like ages, there was no pain. Idly, I wondered if this was what death was like. My mentor often called himself the God of Death… perhaps I would meet him here.

"You bone-headed imbecile!" A roaring voice interrupted my contemplations.

It hit me then. I wasn't dead. Not unless death included an infuriated Chinese superior.

"I know you are awake! You will only anger me further by pretending to be asleep."

I opened my eyes into slits. My superior stood at the foot of my bed, hospital bed, I corrected myself, arms crossed and an outraged expression across his stern face.

"What were you thinking? Running off to investigate on your own! And getting yourself kidnapped no less?"

I blinked at him stupidly, unable to answer.

"What did you think you could possibly accomplish by yourself? I distinctly remember ordering you to stay put. But no! I get a panicked call from you that is inexplicably cut off. So then I find myself wasting manpower organizing a team to go to New Prague and look for your whereabouts. And after 16 hours of searching, where do I find you? In the middle of a corn field spouting gibberish at a hay-man on a stick!"

Before I realized it, I felt hot tears rolling down my cheeks. I hadn't meant for things to turn out this way. I had only wanted to help find my mentor. But no, it seems like I had made things worse. Much, much worse.

My tears seemed to throw Agent Chang off balance. I have to admit, it must be unsettling to see a grown man, no less a Preventers agent, cry.

My mentor awkwardly handed me a tissue and cleared his throat. "At least by some stroke of miraculous luck, you managed to come out of your ordeal alive."

"How did you find me sir?" I somehow managed to get the words past my parched throat, swiping at my tears with the tissue.

"A GPS tracer was left on your person," Agent Chang told me as he poured me a glass of water. "We picked up the signal as soon as it was turned on."

"I don't understand," I protested after I had taken a few sips of water and stemmed my tears.

"Your actions were foolhardy." My superior seemed to have calmed down somewhat. "But they were the actions of a loyal subordinate. And somehow the Gods have seen fit to reward that loyalty." He held up a small flashdrive. "Thanks to your idiotic actions, we were able to obtain information on Gothe's network. Barton had been unable to relay information to us using conventional methods, but your blundering straight into one of Gothe's cells allowed him to smuggle this information to us, undetected."

"My executioner was Agent Barton?" I couldn't help but gape.

"I think you are confusing 'executioner' with 'saviour'. He extracted you from the situation at great personal risk to himself. Fortunately, your arranged suicide seems to have garnered him the recognition needed to advance in the ranks."

"My suicide?" My eyes just about bugged out of my head.

"Of course. The official story is that you were so distraught by Maxwell's kidnapping that you returned to your hometown to commit suicide."

I almost dropped my glass of water. "Agent Maxwell's kidnapping? I thought Preventers wasn't making that public?"

"We didn't. Gothe did. There have been some troubling developments during your absence."

"What?"

Agent Chang's phone began to ring shrilly before I could ask him exactly what had happened while I was unconscious.

"Chang. Yes. Yes. No. I will be there shortly." My superior ended his call with a clipped tone.

"What-" I tried again.

"An agent will be here within the hour to take your statement. Despite the fortunate outcome, do not think that your actions will not have consequences," he informed me as his demeanor returned once more to that of a stern and unforgiving superior officer.

"Yes sir," I responded automatically.

My superior nodded curtly and grabbed the television remote from the nightstand next to my bed. He turned on the TV, flicked to a news channel and handed me the remote.

"You won't like what you see," he told me before exiting my hospital room.

I turned my attention to the television screen and turned up the volume. The hourly news was just starting.

"And now for our top story," the blonde news anchor spoke into the camera, her blue eyes sombre. "Negotiations between ESUN and global terrorist, Nigel Gothe have stalled. As we reported earlier, Nigel Gothe has kidnapped decorated Preventers agent, Duo Maxwell, also known by his former alias, Gundam Pilot 02. Gothe has been holding the ex-pilot hostage, demanding the release of several prisoners in exchange for Duo Maxwell. With the deadline approaching in less than two hours, ESUN has yet to make a decision although many sources report that ESUN will refuse to accede to terrorist demands. Others speculate that Foreign Minister Relena Darlian-Peacecraft, who has a well-known history with the pilots, is lobbying for a deal to save the former Gundam Pilot 02. Stay tuned for more updates as the story progresses."

I stared numbly at the screen as memories of my capture slammed back into focus.

I shot out of bed and ran after my superior. "Agent Chang! Wait! Agent Chang!" I cried desperately as I saw the elevator begin to close behind him.

"No! Wait, call him back!" I tore myself out of the grip of a concerned nurse. "Agent Chang!"

My vision swam and I staggered, leaning heavily against the wall. Clipped footsteps approached me and I was roughly hauled upright.

"They're planning on killing him!" I gasped. "They were saying that Gothe is going to do it publicly, that something big is going down in 72 hours! But we don't even have that long! How long has it been since-"

"Calm yourself agent," Agent Chang interrupted me. "We know already. Barton has already supplied us with this information."

"Oh…" I deflated. "Right…"

"I don't like to repeat myself agent, your actions were rash and foolhardy. But, they have helped us obtain a break in the case. So rest now, you have done your part. Like I said, an agent will be by later to debrief you."

"Yes sir…"

"Have some faith in Maxwell," my superior informed me. "He has pulled himself out of worse situations before." My superior's features were calm, but the tense way he held himself told me otherwise.

* * *

I heard my hospital room door open and close. I ignored it, thinking it was one of the nurses coming in to check on me. I'd been ignoring them ever since they had taken away my television remote. They told me that the news was 'upsetting' me too much, especially after it had been announced that ESUN had ultimately refused to 'negotiate with terrorists'.

"You're Duo's newest rookie." The voice was deep and monotone; a statement, not a question.

I bolted upright and turned to face the voice. I heart dropped to my stomach when I came face to face with the legendary Agent Heero Yuy. I'd caught glimpses of him at Preventers headquarters, seen his face in the media, but I'd never been this close to the man himself.

"I…" I scrabbled for words, unsure of what I was feeling. Relief that he hand returned? Anger for neglecting my mentor? Awe at being in the presence of the legendary pilot? Disbelief that he was here and not out looking for his lover? The time I had spent with my mentor, listening to his anecdotes, even visiting his home had made think that I knew all there was to know about Agent Yuy, but seeing him standing in the doorway made me realize that I knew nothing at all.

I faltered under his steely gaze. His face was eerily expressionless but it felt like his eyes were boring a hole into my soul. I don't know how I knew, but I got the distinct impression that Agent Yuy disliked me somehow.

"I'm here to debrief you," he told me as he pulled out a chair and sat across from me.

"Debrief?" I repeated in bewilderment.

"Chang didn't tell you?" He leaned back in his seat, hands stuffed in his coat pockets. Belatedly, I realized that he was in his Preventers field uniform, not the usual suit he wore to accompany the Foreign Minister.

"You're the agent Chang sent to debrief me?" I sputtered in disbelief.

"No. I volunteered."

"Volunteered? But, you I mean… but you … why would… you… you... What are _you_ doing here?" I finally managed to string a coherent sentence together.

Agent Yuy frowned and the effect was terrifying. He looked as though he wanted to kill me. "Did you sustain neurological damage?"

"What? No, the doctor said I checked out, no residual damage. I feel better…"

"Duo said that you are, in his words, 'annoyingly polite', that you even address your superiors as 'sir' when you're off duty. Changes in ingrained behaviour are a symptom of brain trauma."

"Huh?" As soon as the words left Agent Yuy's mouth, I realized that I hadn't called him 'sir'. Not once. I was often teased by my classmates in the academy for being overly polite. I wondered if it had to do with my anger and frustration towards the man sitting across from me.

"I'm very sorry sir, I didn't realize I was being rude sir. It won't happen again."

Agent Yuy leaned forward in his seat and examined my face closely. Seemingly satisfied, he sat back, hands still in pockets.

"Umm…" I fidgeted in the uncomfortable silence. Usually Agent Maxwell would fill these silences but Agent Yuy seemed in no hurry to continue our conversation. "Did Agent Maxwell say anything else about me sir?"

"You spent a lot of time with him." Again, a statement, not a question.

"Yes sir. I was very privileged to be able to work with Agent Maxwell. He has taught me many things."

"Like recklessly getting caught by the enemy?" Agent Yuy's question was blunt and cut straight to the bone but his expression remained emotionless.

I opened and closed my mouth soundlessly at the biting remark. I wanted nothing more than to yell, rush at the man and sock him in the jaw; anything to wipe that indifferent look off my senior agent's face. But reacting violently wouldn't get me anywhere, especially not with this man. "I regret my actions sir. They were irresponsible and against protocol. But how can you say the same about Agent Maxwell sir? He was trying to help you! He was worried about you!" The image of my mentor mournfully watching the news report on the Foreign Minister's tour of the colonies flitted at the corners of my mind.

"You're very loyal to him." Another impassive statement. Did this man have any emotions at all?

The conversation, if it could be called that, stalled once more.

"Why were you in New Prague?"

I glanced up, surprised to see that Agent Yuy's piercing gaze was no longer fixed on me. Instead, he was gazing at some unknown spot outside the small hospital room window.

"We went there for lunch sir... a few days before he was..."

"And?" He prompted me without looking at me.

"Something about our visit seemed strange sir. There was no need for us to drive an hour just for lunch. And Agent Maxwell, he kept watching the building across the street."

"You didn't inform Chang of this?"

"No sir. I didn't think it had any relevance to the case until after I made my report to Agent Chang. And then, I didn't want to bother him until I knew I was right. After all, I could have been overthinking things… sir."

"The trip to New Prague, was it after your visit to the strip club?"

My jaw dropped. "Did Agent Chang tell you!?" I exclaimed involuntarily. "Sir," I added hastily. I couldn't believe that Agent Chang would tell Agent Yuy about our visit to the strip club.

"No. Duo did."

My jaw was in danger of becoming unhinged. "He did? But… but…"

"He was investigating. It was how he found Maxine Lestelle's half-sister."

"She had a half-sister?" I wondered if I'd wandered into an alternate reality. As far I knew, Maxine Lestelle had no other relatives than her deceased parents and brother.

"Ebony Reichert, also known as Madame Midnight."

"How do we know this sir?"

"After tracing your call to vicinity of the building, Chang was able to discover the connection. Twenty-seven years ago, Ebony Reichert was born to Lily Reichert, a wealthy heiress. To prevent a scandal, Ebony was sent away to live with her grandparents. Afterwards, her mother attempted suicide and was committed to an institution. Chang accessed the patient records and found recorded conversations indicating that Richard Lestelle was the father."

"But sir, what does Ebony Reichert have to do with the case?" Even if I had inadvertently stumbled across Maxine Lestelle's sister, I still couldn't understand what her significance was.

"Ebony Reichert is Gothe's new lover."

Agent Yuy pulled two photographs from his pocket and laid one down on my tray table. I picked up the picture and examined it closely. I could understand why she was called Ebony. While Maxine had been lightness itself, Ebony Reichert was dark but just as beautiful. In contrast to Maxine's blonde, Ebony's hair was raven-black and her brown eyes were fringed with thick, dark, lashes. But just like her elder sister, Ebony's eyes held the same cunning intelligence.

"I can see the resemblance to Maxine Lestelle sir. But how do you know she is Gothe's new lover?"

"Because she closely resembles 'Lenore'."

"Lenore sir?" I felt my blood run cold. 'Lenore' was the original lover, the woman from the poem.

"A previous lover of Gothe's. One who slipped through his fingers almost twenty-three years ago."

Agent Yuy placed the other picture on my tray-table, one with a dark-haired woman smiling softly as she held a baby.

My stomach dropped as I recognized the picture.

It was from my photo-album.

* * *

_AN: Howdy folks. Sorry to end it on another cliffy. (in my defence, I was going to end it on an even crueler cliff, but ran out of space.) I know this chapter was pretty 'Kid'-centric but no worries, future chapters won't focus on him. I just needed these events to create a platform from which Duo & Heero's relationship can be explored. _

_Anyways, I hope this story will be wrapping up soon. Three, maybe four more chapters to go (fingers crossed). Once again, I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews! I still overwhelmed by the response this story is generating. Thanks for reading and I hope everyone will stick around until the story's finished. _


	8. Second Hand

**DISCLAIMER:** Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

* * *

_**Second Hand**_

* * *

My knuckles were the same colour as the sheets clutched in their aching grasp. My heart thundered in my chest, my belaboured breathing rang harshly in my ears. This couldn't be happening. I wanted scream, to smash everything in sight. It was too unfair. After everything I'd been through, after all the battles I'd fought, clawing my way to the one simple thing I wanted in life, I was going to lose it all.

All because some bastard happened to be my father.

"Where did you get this?" I asked, 'sir' be damned. If I was going to lose my job, and most likely get incarcerated on top of that, there was no need to be polite anymore.

"Duo found it in your photo-album."

My heart sunk. So my mentor had taken it from my album during one of his 'impromptu' visits to my place. Doubts started to creep in. Had he ever really been my mentor at all? A forced down a hysterical laugh that was threatening to bubble out. I had been so stupid to think that some like Duo Maxwell wouldn't recognize an imposter.

"So you knew all along? Was that why I was hired? So Preventers could keep an eye on me and see if I would lead them to my _father_?" The last word felt like acid on my tongue.

"No, your mother was very careful to cut all ties with the Gothe, and she went to great lengths to shield you from the world. She changed her name, her appearance, she even gave you up for adoption to your grandparents."

"Then how did you figure it out?"

"I didn't. Duo did. He recognized your mother from an old picture we have on file. Your mother and Nigel Gothe attended the same university," Agent Yuy informed me as he pulled out a third photo. It was an aged candid shot of a man and woman, sitting together on the grass, heads tilted towards each other. The focus was slightly off, but I could identify the younger image of my mother.

"I can't believe he was able to figure it out from that photo," I spoke even though deep down I really wasn't all that surprised. My mentor's sharp eyes never missed a thing. "How did he know to suspect me?"

Agent Yuy remained tight-lipped for a moment, as though considering, before answering. "Maxine Lestelle's fixation on you bothered him. She also brought up the theory of atavism several times during their conversations. At first, Duo thought that she was hinting at something in his background but then after her death, he realized she was talking about you."

"Atavism sir?" I cursed silently to myself as soon as the honourific rolled off my tongue. I had slipped back to my polite persona. After living with it for so long, it was hard to shake off.

"An evolutionary throwback."

I blinked at the curt answer, still confused.

Agent Yuy's blank expression tightened slightly, as though he was exasperated by my ignorance. Without answering, he pulled another photograph from his pocket. Idly, I wondered how many photographs he had stuffed in his pockets. That thought vanished from my mind the minute I laid eyes on a photograph… of myself?

"What…? But… that isn't me…." The face in the picture was a carbon-copy of mine, but older. The man had to be in his thirties at least. In the background were pyramids, Egypt my brain supplied, but I'd never been to Egypt.

"Leonard Gothe, Nigel Gothe's great uncle. Lestelle was obsessed with Gothe, no doubt she had thoroughly researched his family records and had seen this same picture."

"But… it didn't seem like she recognized me during the interview sir…"

Agent Yuy shrugged. "Duo thinks she didn't realize until later."

"So now what? I'm going to lock-up as soon as the doctors clear me?" I fingered the photo in hands. It was so strange that I would have the exact same face. My life was cursed after all.

"No."

"No?" I looked up from the photograph in disbelief.

"Only Duo and I know. It'll stay that way."

"What!?"

"I've done extensive background checks. You spent your childhood with your grandparents in Old Romania and you were given your grandmother's maiden name. Your mother adopted a completely new identity and went underground, taking cash only jobs as a waitress, bartender and exotic dancer. You left Old Romania to attend college, during that time you mother died from cancer. You entered Preventers academy straight after graduation. Your psych evaluation raised no flags, all academy instructors reported you were a honest but unmemorable candidate. You clearly have no connection to Gothe. If you were somehow connected, I would have found the link." Agent Yuy glared at me as though he was unhappy with the fact that I had no ties to my father.

"But…"

"Duo said we shouldn't punish the child for the sins of the father."

"Oh…" My heart pounded painfully at that. "Agent Yuy, may I ask you a question sir?"

"What?" The answer was gruff.

"Why didn't Agent Maxwell confront me about my father?"

"He didn't know if you knew." For once, the expression on Agent Yuy's face looked slightly pained.

"What?"

"I told him he should confront you. But he… disagreed. He said that the only thing more painful than not knowing who your father is, is finding out that your father is someone like Gothe."

"Oh."

"But you knew," Agent Yuy's tone took on a slight accusing edge. "For how long?"

"I found out after my mother died… I was going through her things and found her diary. The last passage she wrote… was to me. Something like a last confession…"

"She knew she was dying," my stoic superior had gone back to uttering statements rather than questions.

"She wrote about how she met Gothe while she at was university, fell in love and got pregnant. But then she started to see him for who he really was… and she got scared… so she left him."

Agent Yuy nodded minutely. "So that's what made you decide to join the Preventers."

"How did you know?"

"When you were attending university, you indicated to your academic advisor that you wanted to pursue a career in social work. You suddenly changed tracks after your mother's death."

"But… those files were confidential!" I protested. I would have said more but I remembered who I was talking to. According to rumours, there was nothing the man sitting across from couldn't hack into. A part of me felt violated, while another part felt slightly cajoled by having a man such as Agent Yuy make the effort to dig so extensively into my history rather than just turn me over to the authorities.

"You wanted to catch your father." Again, with the statements. Did the famed Heero Yuy have an aversion to asking questions?

"No," I replied, drawing a grunt of surprise from the man across from me. "I didn't have any grand ideas of personally catching my father. I just… wanted to help in some way… or just prove that I was nothing like my father, that I could work for the good of the people, just like my mother always wanted."

Agent Yuy was silent for a while, as though he was thinking over my answer. "I can see why Duo picked you," he said at last.

"Sir?" I wondered, confused by the cryptic nature of his declaration.

"You seem surprised that 'Lenore' is your mother." He changed topics, again with a statement, not a question.

I blinked at that. "Well, I feel guilty about hiding my heritage sir… but it didn't even cross my mind. According to our records, Gothe's had plenty of lovers, and most likely plenty of illegitimate children. I didn't think that my mother was special in anyway. I still don't understand how she could be 'Lenore'."

I stiffened when I noticed Agent Yuy clench his jaw and ball his hands into fists. "She _ran_."

"Sir?"

Before my superior could elaborate, we were interrupted by the beeping of his phone. He glared at the screen before pocketing his phone and gathering up the photos on my tray table.

"Chang is coming," he told me as he pulled out a lighter and set fire to the photo from my family album and the picture of my great-great uncle. Only the picture of Gothe and my mother remained.

"Sir?" I asked again in alarm went he dropped the photographs into the trash. For a moment I thought of diving after the photograph of my mother, to save the only photograph I had of her before she'd changed her appearance.

The photo had turned to ash before I could will myself to move.

Agent Yuy merely gave me a pointed glare before the door to my hospital room opened and Agent Chang entered with his arms full of folders.

"Are you finished Yuy? I've booked one of the conference rooms for our discussion."

"We can just discuss it here."

"Yuy?"

Agent Yuy shrugged. "The rookie spent the most time with Duo. He was also capture by one of Gothe's cells. He might have some insight."

Agent Chang considered me for a moment. "Very well, he has proven useful in the past."

A sudden thought struck me. Why were my superiors meeting in the hospital? And now that I thought of it, the halls of the hospital were crawling with Preventers agents.

"Sirs? Why are there so many agents in the hospital?"

Agent Chang grimaced. "One of the prisoners Gothe is demanding to be released-"

"Was," Agent Yuy interrupted.

Agent Chang stopped short and shot his colleague a scathing look. "One of the prisoners Gothe _was_ demanding to be released is undergoing treatment at this hospital. Also, a group of agents was involved in a minor skirmish with one of Gothe's splinter cells. They are also currently being examined and treated here."

"Oh." My heart fell. Although the news had reported that negotiations for my mentor's release had fallen through, I had hoped that the Preventers were working on an unofficial deal for Agent Maxwell's release.

"Gothe never intended to trade Duo," Agent Yuy stated, as though reading my mind. Although I didn't want to admit it, I had to agree. The snippets of conversation I had heard during my capture all indicated that Gothe had already decided my mentor's fate.

"You are probably right," Agent Chang sighed. "The prisoners he demanded in exchange were only minor members of his organization. With Maxwell in his hands, he should have made bigger demands."

"And he didn't demand Maxine's release," Agent Yuy added.

My Chinese superior rubbed his forehead wearily. "Which either means he no longer cares for her, or he already knows she is dead. Perhaps both. It seems that no love was lost between the half-sisters. Speaking of which, I see that Yuy has shown you the picture of 'Lenore'." He nodded towards the picture still sitting on my tray table.

My throat went dry.

"Duo hadn't showed him the picture," Agent Yuy diverted Agent Chang's attention away from me.

"Hmm… I thought not. It was worth a try," my superior picked up the picture and frowned at it. "And I'd finally managed to trace her identity. Her name is Lilia Salaberry, she attended Sanq University with Gothe, but after that, I hit a brick wall. I can't find any trace of her anywhere, she hid her tracks well."

I glanced at Agent Yuy out of the corner of my eye but his expression didn't change.

"Um, Agent Chang sir? How do you know this woman in the picture is Gothe's 'Lenore'?"

"It is more of an educated guess based on the texts Maxwell was reading. He had highlighted several chapters on narcissism and God-complexes. Based on what we know of him, Gothe is always the one to discard his lovers. However, in the case of this Salaberry woman, from what we can tell, _she left him_. If Goth-"

"How do you know she left him?" the words tumbled out of my mouth unbidden.

Agent Chang gave me a sharp look but answered my question anyway. "Gothe was always very public about the way he discarded his women. He humiliated and debased them, made it known that they were disposable. It fed his ego. But Salaberry, she just disappeared one day. And no," Agent Chang started before I could interrupt him again, "he didn't kill her because he spent several months searching for her after her disappearance."

"He did?"

"Hmm... I managed to track down an old PI who was hired to do the job."

"How did you find the PI?" Agent Yuy almost sounded impressed.

"The files that Barton got to us. Gothe's accountants keep impeccable books," Agent Chang replied with a hint of triumph in his voice. "To think that Gothe's demise might come because he attempted to minimize his taxes by claiming the PI's services as a work expense."

Agent Yuy grunted noncommittally. "Knowing that he hired a PI twenty years ago doesn't get us any closer to finding Gothe."

Agent Chang glared. "It helps us with the profile. Anyways, like I was saying, if Gothe had a narcissistic personality as Maxwell deduced, then it would only be natural that he would fixate on Salaberry. Which explains his current fascination," he nodded towards the other picture on my desk, "with Ebony Reichert who has very similar features to Lilia Salaberry."

"Are they related sir?"

"No. I've found no connections between the Reichert and Salaberry families. The Reicherts immigrated to Earth from the colonies roughly three decades ago while the Salaberry family has been deeply entrenched in Old Romania for centuries now." Agent Chang seemed certain in his answer. Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief. At least fate had spared me another link to Nigel Gothe.

"So she's a surrogate," Agent Yuy scowled. "Gothe is most likely taking out his anger on her."

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Agent Chang handed a printout to his colleague. "According to your partner's rambling notes, he seemed to be under the impression that 'Lenore', Lilia Salaberry to be more excact, held some sort of power over Gothe. And since the real Salaberry disappeared, he has transferred those feelings to Reichert."

"So you're saying that Reichert, the surrogate, could be calling the shots?" A deep frown line appeared between Agent Yuy's brows. It reminded me of the conversations between my mentor and Agent Chang, except there was no easy banter between the two men. They clearly respected each other, but there was a certain lilted stiffness to their interaction.

"It would explain why Gothe abandoned Maxine so easily. She had served him loyally for fifteen years. It would also explain why Maxine resented her so much, enough to betray Gothe. Not only was Reichert the illegitimate child born from the infidelity of her father, she was able to achieve what she never had, Reichert was able to influence Gothe."

"Did you finish compiling the file on Ebony Reichert?" Agent Yuy asked, no, demanded.

"Yes, I just finished," my superior passed a thick file to Agent Yuy. "And since you are awake, you might as well make yourself useful," Agent Chang dropped another file on my table. "Someone, most likely some well-meaning idiot, went through the file and muddled up the order of the pages. A picture is missing too, see if you can't find it."

I read the label on the file. _Gothe family records._

"Which picture sir?" I asked, hoping that Agent Chang didn't notice the quiver in my voice. Agent Yuy shot me a dark glare over the edge of his open file.

"Gothe's great uncle. It is really not important if you cannot find it," Agent Chang told me as he sat down and opened another file. "I want you to go through all the family records and see if you can find something, an anomaly in the family tree or if something that would be symbolically significant to the family. If the man believes he is a God, his actions must have some symbolic significance."

To my surprise, both my superiors pulled out chairs and sat down with their files. I glanced at Agent Chang's file and noted that it was the file we had on all of Gothe's previous exploits; at least the ones that the Preventers had on record. No doubt he was looking for a pattern in Gothe's previous attacks, any way to predict what his next move would be. At first I was angry with how calm both agents were being, but my anger soon turned to marvel with I realized how disciplined both these men were. While the other agents in the hospital were buzzing with nervous energy, my two superiors were calm and focused, undeterred by the chaos around them.

I turned my attention to the file on Nigel Gothe's family. I'd never seen the contents before, even though I'd been severely tempted when I first joined the Preventers, I'd never been able to stomach the thought of coming face to face with my ancestry.

Because that would make it real.

My fingers shook as I opened the file and my breathing sounded harsh in my ears. Hoping that the two agents wouldn't notice my agitation, I thumbed through the documents. Copies of birth certificates, marriage licenses, photographs blurred together. Although I tried to focus on finding patterns and significant events, a small voice kept protesting that I was related to the people in this file. A family with its roots in aristocracy; born into privilege and old money. No doubt none of these people had had to work a day in their life. And with the money and power came the inevitable corruption. Their reign had ended after the Eve Wars, however. In short, until the rebellion, the Gothe family, had been master puppeteers with their fingers in countless pies. Faced with the sudden loss of power and privilege, Nigel Gothe was on the path to take back what he thought was rightfully his, his birthright as shadow puppeteer. And he was on the cusp of succeeding.

I blinked in surprise when the folder was closed and taken away from me. I looked up to see Agent Yuy frowning at me.

"You're too tired to focus properly," he informed me succinctly.

"I'm…" I was about to protest when a wave of drowsiness washed over me. I glanced to my left and noticed that my morphine drip had been increased. "Wait, why…?"

Agent Yuy met my gaze for a moment before turning back to his file.

* * *

"_Breaking News from London…"_

"Attention staff. By decree of ESUN, Sanq Memorial Hospital has been declared combat hospital. All non-critical civilians to be evacuated immediately."

"…_just in from New York…"_

"Postpone all non-critical surgeries until further notice! All emergency personnel report to the ER for triage."

"…_reporting live from Beijing…" _

"Attention all agents cleared for duty, report immediate to Captain Noin. I repeat, all agents…"

"…_top story from New Cape Town…"_

"Paging trauma teams one, two and three on standby. Burn unit on standby."

"…_the public execution of Agent Duo Maxwell."_

* * *

I was jolted awake by the commotion in the halls. I sat up in my hospital bed, slack-jawed at the sight of my formerly private room now crammed with beds containing my fellow agents.

"What's going on?" I asked one of the agents that was conscious.

"Don't know myself," the gray-haired man replied with a shrug. "My squad was caught in a skirmish with one of Gothe's cells. Got slugged with a couple of bullets, rushed off to surgery and woke up to this mess. It wasn't like this when I got here…"

"They're anticipating a bomb attack with heavy casualties," a female agent informed us from where she stood next to the door, propped up on crutches.

"What?" I felt my blood run cold. "Where?"

"ESUN headquarters in Sanq. They're bracing for attack in London, New York… all the big cities. Gothe just delivered his manifesto… along with his opening parlay."

"His what?"

The female agent finally turned to face me, her skin ashen and her gaze blank. "It's all over the news. Gothe just publicly executed Duo Maxwell."

My mind went blank. The agent's lips continued to move but all I could hear was a high pitched buzzing in my ears. I stumbled out of my bed and staggered towards the door. I felt the IV pull at the inside of my arm and yanked the IV out without thought. I saw my fellow agent reach out to stop me, her balance wobbling on her crutches but I side-stepped her hand and lurched into the hallway.

The halls were lined with hospital beds, crisp white sheets and IV stands at the ready. Idly I mused that these beds would soon be filled with hundreds of casualties. Somewhere deep inside, I was horrified by the fact that I wasn't phased in the least. Dimly I could hear voices scolding me, telling me to get back to my room, hands reached out to grasp me but I swayed out of their reach.

I felt like I was underwater. Everything was distorted and muted, slow yet fast.

I found myself in a private office. It was quieter here. The nurses had seemed to have given up on trying to drag me back to my room. It seemed like they had more urgent things to do than usher a single wayward Preventers agent back to his room.

I sat myself down at the desk, turned on the computer in front of me and clicked to the first news channel. A grainy security feed showed a figure striding towards the entrance of the ESUN bureau in New York. The figure paused momentarily, long braid waiving in the slight breeze before spontaneously bursting into flame.

I clicked on the scrolling headline.

_Nigel Gothe strikes. Agent Maxwell dead, body incinerated on the steps of ESUN headquarters in Sanq._

I clicked on the next headline.

_At 11am London time, witnesses report seeing famed Preventers agent, Duo Maxwell, approach the steps of London Parliament and suddenly burst into flame._

I clicked again.

_Agent Duo Maxwell's charred body found on the steps of ESUN embassy in Santiago, Chile._

Click.

_The body of Duo Maxwell, former Gundam pilot and Preventers ace, was recovered in front of ESUN offices in Singapore. Witnesses report seeing Agent Maxwell approach the offices before suddenly catching on fire and expiring seconds later._

Click.

_Gothe's Manifesto. The mass execution of Duo Maxwell. Who is the real Duo Maxwell? _

I turned off the monitor and threw up into the trash basket under the desk. When I was done, I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and left the office. I needed to get to Preventers headquarters.

I found a back exit and entered the underground parking lot with little difficulty. On autopilot, I walked up to the first car I saw. It was unlocked. How lucky I noted to myself without humour. I slid into the driver's seat and looked for the keys. They weren't behind the visor or in the change drawer. Of course, it couldn't be that easy. Without thought, I pulled the wires from underneath the steering wheel and hot-wired the car. It was one of the first things my mentor had taught me to do.

"Ya never know when it might come in handy," his laughing voice echoed in my ears.

I gunned the engine and shot out of the parking lot. Within minutes, I was pulling into up to the gate with no recollection of the drive. Agent Felix who manned the security gate at the employee parking lot gave me a wide-eyed look.

"You sure you've been cleared for duty agent?" he asked me skeptically.

"Yes," I growled at him.

"Well, if you're sure," he informed me as he opened the gates, his expression still skeptical.

I ignored him as I guided the car into the first available open space. I exited the car and jumped out of the way when four standard black Preventers SUVs sped past me, lights flashing, flying past the gate and turning down the road towards Sanq's Parliament buildings.

I was about to continue towards the entrance when I was stopped again, this time by a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you sure you're well enough to be here agent?" a soft but firm voice asked.

I turned and glared at the owner of the hand. A medium-sized man with blonde hair and a beard looked at me with a quizzical expression in his blue eyes. He wore a soft gray suit under a white coat that identified him as a doctor. He was young for a doctor, yet something in his stance, or maybe it was his features, belied a kind of world-weariness only found in veterans of the war.

"Oh, you're Duo's rookie aren't you?" the man commented, a small and sad smile rising to his lips. "He spoke to me about you."

A sudden rage boiled in my stomach at the casual mention of my mentor's name. And yet, it immediately cooled when a whisper of recognition tickled at the recesses of my memory. This man was familiar but I couldn't quite place him.

"Are you sure you're supposed to be here?" The man reached for me again, his hand touching my arm.

"I'm fine!" I snapped, jerking my arm away. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I felt my eyes widen when I saw the bloody IV needle in his hand.

"Here," the man pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. "You should put pressure on that. And perhaps a change of clothes?"

I blinked and looked down at myself in shock. I was standing in the middle of the Preventers parking lot bleeding, barefoot and still in my hospital gown. The man had turned away from me and was retrieving something from the backseat of a dark sedan.

"Here, I can lend you a pair of my scrubs." He smiled at me gently as handed me the blue bundle. Once again, something tickled at the edges of my memory.

"Ah, I have some sandals too… although they might be a bit small." The blonde man bent down to place a pair of worn rubber sandals next to my feet.

"Thank you… uh…?" I replied as I quickly changed into the scrubs while trying to preserve my modesty as much as possible. Not that there was much modesty left to preserve.

"Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me!" The man exclaimed, extending his hand. "I'm Doctor Raberba. Now let's go meet Wufei shall we? Hopefully we can get some answers as to what's going on." He set off at a brisk pace, a troubled but determined look on his face.

I numbly I followed him into headquarters. The office was a hive of activity, agents rushing to and fro with no one paying us any mind. 'Raberba' I kept mulling over in my mind. I knew the name was significant but I couldn't quite figure out why. Without hesitation, Dr. Rebarba navigated the halls and a cold sweat covered my body when I realized that we were heading for the morgue.

"Winner!" I heard Agent Chang exclaim in a choked voice as we stepped into the chilled room. My superior was standing next to a sheet-covered body, his hands gripping the side of the metal autopsy table.

_Quatre Rebarba Winner, Gundam Pilot 04_.

The knowledge slammed into me, causing me to stagger. But all the shock at learning the identity of the mysterious blonde doctor fled when the legendarily reclusive pilot ran towards the table and pulled back the sheet. "Oh Allah!" he cried out in a strangled voice and fell to his knees. "I didn't think it was possible…"

Unable to stop myself, I approached the uncloaked body with growing trepidation. Even from the other side of the room I could see the blackened and charred flesh, rendering the corpse unrecognizable.

Until I saw the arm.

Only the left arm remained untouched. An arm with a very familiar tattoo.

* * *

_AN: Yeah yeah, another cliffy. And yeah, a long time to update. My apologies._

_Anyways, once again, thanks so much for all the reviews and comments! They really means a lot. Especially when I'm stuck in a major rut (writing-wise). Hope this chapter didn't anger too many people :P. Story is wrapping up soon and I can't wait for it to be over. (would love to have a "complete" next to at least one of my stories)_

_Anyways, you're all gonna hate me but the next update probably won't be for a while. But who knows. I hope you'll all keep reading until the end! Oh and Happy St. Paddy's Day! _


	9. Second Skin

**DISCLAIMER:** Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

* * *

_**Second Skin**_

* * *

"Tell me it's not him," the blonde doctor choked out in a strained voice. "It can't be him right? There are other bodies… it's one of Gothe's elaborate plots right?"

"I wish I could tell you it's not him," Agent Chang stood stiffly, clenching his jaw. "We have not been able to confirm anything but…"

Quatre Winner, or Dr. Raberba as he called himself, pulled himself to his feet. "No… I refuse to believe it. Even if the body has the right age and physical characteristics, we won't know for sure until we do DNA testing and… Oh Allah," Dr. Raberba's voice broke. "I was with him when he got that tattoo Wufei…"

"…and it isn't a fresh tattoo," my superior finished his sentence.

"What about the other bodies?" I asked. The news reports I had seen all claimed that my mentor had been killed in various cities around the world.

"You!" my superior's mouth dropped open in shock. Even the stoic Agent Chang had been shaken enough to miss my arrival. "You have not been cleared for duty! And how did you get here?"

"I met him in the parking lot," Dr. Raberba informed him as he pulled the sheet back over the body. "I knew who he was the minute I saw him." I was taken aback by that. He knew who I was? But the doctor continued on as though it was nothing. "And he has a point, what about the other bodies?"

Agent Chang frowned, clearly unhappy at my presence but putting it aside for the moment. "Nothing has been confirmed yet, but intel tells us that are 13 bodies in total, all matching Maxwell's description, all burned alive at or near an ESUN office or embassy. In the same manner as well… All witnesses report seeing Maxwell approach, and then suddenly burst into flame. The bodies were all burned beyond recognition, except for the left arm."

"Only the left arm was unburned? But how?" Dr. Raberba's fingers inched towards the sheet but stopped midway.

"The bodies were doused in accelerants, except for the arms, which were coated with flame retardant. A new chemical mix too, we've never seen anything this powerful before. It's making DNA testing difficult."

"And all bodies have the same tattoo?" A note of hope was creeping into the doctor's voice.

"Yes," Agent Chang nodded. "But do not get your hopes up Winner. We have been unable to date the tattoos, but none of them are new. I suspect this is all a cruel game Gothe is playing. That deranged bastard is toying with us, forcing us to determine which body belongs to Maxwell. And that is not even taking into account the mass hysteria these simultaneous and seemingly identical executions are creating in the public."

"Where were the other bodies found?" Dr. Raberba's face was drained of all colour but a fierce intensity had entered his eyes.

"New York, London, Santiago, Istanbul, Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo, New Cape Town, Cairo, St Petersburg, Mumbai, Nairobi, and of course… Sanq."

The blonde doctor's mouth thinned into a grim line. "All major cities, historical cities too."

"Yes, all cities are now bracing for a major bomb threat, as per Gothe's manifesto."

"His manifesto?" I wondered aloud. The news reports had mentioned a manifesto but I had been too focused on my mentor's death to pay much attention to its contents.

Dr. Raberba turned to me as though to answer but before he could speak, the morgue doors slammed open and Agent Yuy strode in, a fierce scowl on his face.

"Yuy!" Agent Chang exclaimed when Agent Yuy stomped over to the body and ferociously tore off the sheet.

"Heero?" The blonde doctor gently placed a hand on his shoulder. I was surprised when Agent Yuy didn't shake it off.

"You got here fast Quatre."

"I was already earthside and on my way here when the news broke," Dr. Raberba replied softly. "I'm so sorry Heero…"

Agent Yuy didn't reply. Instead, he ran his hand down the body's unburned arm and, to my shock, carefully gripped the corpse's hand. After a brief moment, he breathed a deep sigh and his shoulders dropped.

"It's not him."

"Yuy?" For the first time, I saw Agent Chang hesitate. "We will not know for sure until we get the DNA results back. The lab is doing the best they can, but their work is being hampered by the chemicals in the fire retardant. We will-"

"It's not him!" Agent Yuy insisted again, this time more forcefully.

"Heero? You don't know how badly I want to believe that Duo is still alive but-"

"I know him Quatre. And this isn't his arm, this isn't him."

"But how can you know for sure? You cannot possibly identify him from his arm!" Agent Chang demanded, seemingly perplexed by Agent Yuy's stubborn assertions.

"I can prove it." Agent Yuy glared before spinning to face me. "You! Turn off the lights."

Baffled, I did as instructed and flicked off the lights. The room dimmed, but remained lightly illuminated from the lights in the coroner's office at the back. Curious, I approached the autopsy table as Agent Yuy pulled something out of his pocket.

"A black light?" The former Sandrock pilot wondered out loud.

"We have already examined the body for trace evidence," Agent Chang added as his colleague shone the black light over the tattoo. "And as you can see, we found nothing other than the fire retardant."

"Exactly."

I peered over Dr. Raberba's shoulder and forced down a shudder at the eerily illuminate tattoo etched into the body's arm. Just like Agent Chang said, the black light revealed nothing.

"And that is significant how?" Agent Chang practically snarled. Although I'd witnessed him lose his temper countless times, especially when it came to us rookies, I'd never seen Agent Chang so rattled before.

"It's not his tattoo."

"But Heero, I was there when Duo got his tattoo. It's exactly the same, there's no mistaking it!"

"No, it's not."

"What do you mean?" Both men demanded in unison, one angry, the other desolate.

"He added to his tattoo with invisible ink."

"You mean one of those inks that's only visible under black light?" Dr. Raberba exclaimed. "But at the parlour-"

"He did it himself, afterwards." Agent Yuy cut him off.

"A tattoo of what?" Agent Chang demanded. "And how can you be certain that the chemicals in the fire retardant have not altered its visibility in some way? We have never seen a chemical compound like this before and… Yuy!" My Chinese superior growled when Agent Yuy grabbed his hand and placed it on the corpse's arm, right over the tattoo.

"Do you feel any indentations other than the visible tattoo marks?"

"No," Agent Chang admitted as he snatched his hand back in disgust.

"None of the other bodies had an invisible tattoo." Agent Yuy informed us succinctly. "I already checked with our contacts."

"You mean he could still be alive?" Dr. Raberba exclaimed happily, tears shinning in his eyes. "Oh praise Allah!" he shouted as he enfolded Agent Yuy in a hug. "He's still alive!"

"You are sure of this Yuy?"

"I wouldn't be telling you otherwise," Agent Yuy growled as he none-too delicately extricated himself from the doctor's grasp.

Agent Chang let out a deep breath. Although his features remained stern, some of the tension had bled from his body. "Very well, I will go inform the Commander and liaise with our other branches. I assume you want this discovery to be kept strictly need-to-know?" My superior's gaze slid to meet mine as he said this.

Agent Yuy didn't answer and Agent Chang didn't seem to expect one. Flicking the lights back on as he exited the morgue, the Chinese agent left the room at a brisk but controlled pace.

The room fell into an awkward silence until the former Sandrock pilot spoke up. "As glad as I am that Duo is still alive," he bent to pick up the discarded sheet from the floor, "I can't help but mourn for the 13 unknown men who died in his place. It's all just so senseless," he finished in a sombre tone as he gently recovered the body.

"Tell him that. It's his fault for allowing himself to be captured," Agent Yuy retorted in an emotionless voice.

Something in me snapped. All the relief and joy I'd felt at hearing that my mentor might still be alive shriveled and curled into a tight ball or rage. A ball of rage that exploded.

"He did it for you! You don't know how worried he was about you!" The words tore from my throat without my consent. "He was so worried that you'd be targeted while you were off with Relena Peacecraft, he didn't want you to have to fight on your own! He did everything for you!" I was yelling now and I didn't care. "He was always thinking about you!"

I could feel myself moving forward, my body moving of its accord. My rage continued to build, focused on the stubborn man in front of me. "You don't deserve him!" I raised my first, ready to strike. I knew it was foolish, but I didn't care anymore. I saw his fist clench and pull back. I couldn't even hope to match him in strength, but if only I could land one blow. Just one blow for him. All those times I had seen my mentor working so feverishly, the times when I had seen the weariness his eyes, all those times he smiled that false smile, those memories fanned the flames of my rage.

I saw those stone cold eyes narrow, his nostrils flare, the vein in his temple bulge. I could feel a shift in the air as his fist sped towards me. Inwardly I braced myself, his fist would connect before mine and it would all be over. I wouldn't even be able to get in a hit for my mentor. The least I could do is face the blow head on. Doing my best not to flinch, I stared down his fist and waited for the blow to fall.

It never came.

With startling speed, Agent Yuy's fist was caught with a startling smack while at the same time my own arm was grabbed and wrenched back with surprising force. The overwhelming flow of momentum caused me to lose my balance and stumble backwards, my back slamming against the floor with a painful thud. Before I knew it, I was blinking stupidly at the image of Dr. Raberba facing off against his former comrade in arms, a hard steel in his light blue eyes.

"Calm down Heero!" The soft-spoken doctor was gone and in his place was the unmistakable figure of a soldier.

Agent Yuy snarled something unintelligible and wrenched his hand away. Dr. Raberba let him go but his body remained tense, like a coiled snake waiting to strike.

"You!" Agent Yuy rounded on me, a fierce scowl lining his face. I scrabbled back in alarm. I was still stuck on my back and vulnerable, nothing but an insect waiting to be crushed. "You need better control of your emotions. Irrational actions like that will get you killed." His words had the cold bite of steel. My back hit the wall and an overpowering fear overtook me as my irate superior stomped towards me. The rage fueling my temporary bravado gone, I recoiled at his approach.

And then he was gone, the morgue doors slamming shut behind him.

"I hate to reprimand someone who means well," I looked away from the doors to meet the gaze of the blonde man, now returned to the persona of a soft-spoken and gentle doctor, "but you shouldn't lash out like that. I don't think I need to tell you that this could have ended much differently, do I?"

I nodded silently in response. Words couldn't even begin to change the spectacular blunder I had just made.

"Hmm…" Callused fingertips pried open my eyelids. "You're recovering from a concussion! Were you hurt by your fall? I should have been more careful." Soon his hands were prodding my head, checking for injuries. Although it hurt, I put up no resistance. My brain was still too busy trying to reconcile the gentle, bearded doctor in front of me with the hard as nails soldier ready to butt heads with the formidable Agent Yuy. I had no idea about the former pilot's physical prowess, but I had no doubt that he wouldn't have gone down easily, even if his opponent was a man of legend.

"You've got a bit of swelling here," he prodded at an especially tender spot on my head, "as well as a sizeable bump which I'm guessing is from your altercation with Gothe's men. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have pulled you back like that."

"It's ok," I mumbled as I pushed myself to feet, albeit a bit unsteadily. "It could have been a lot worse."

"Yes it could have." Dr. Raberba smiled but his eyes remained serious. "We should get some ice for your head. There should be some in your office, right?"

I was guided out he doors and into the elevator before my brain had time to catch up. Once inside, the blonde doctor pushed the button for level four without any prompting.

"How do you know where my office is?" I could have smacked myself for the stupidity of my question. Of course he knew where my office was, I shared one with Agent Maxwell after all. And with the ease that he navigated the halls, there was no doubt that Dr. Raberba was well acquainted with Preventers headquarters.

"Oh, I drop in for tea with Duo whenever I am in Sanq," the doctor replied, as though I hadn't asked such a ridiculous question.

"Tea?" I parroted back. I'd never seen my mentor drink a drop of tea in my life. Some days I believed that he operated solely on coffee and energy drinks.

The elevator doors slid open and I came face to face with a shocked Agent Sanders. "Rookie! You're alive!" he exclaimed as he pulled me out of the elevator and gripped my shoulders tightly as though he didn't believe his eyes. "They said you'd… you'd… I should have known! That crafty Chinese bastard!"

"Umm… sir?"

"You shoulda seen him! Roaring like a dragon when he found out you were missing. I thought he was gonna start breathing fire when he was questioning witnesses down in New Prague. But… what are you doing here? Oh," Agent Sanders jovial face fell. "You heard about Maxwell eh? I can't believe it myself…"

"I…" I didn't know how to respond. I knew that my mentor might still be alive, but it was a slim chance and strictly need-to-know. I was saved from answering when the grizzled agent's phone began beeping.

"Shit! I gotta run rookie, we're gonna catch that son of a bitch! You hang in there, you hear?" his grip tightened before releasing me and dashing into the elevator.

"Oh! Dr. Raberba, good to see you! Wish it were under better circumstances."

"Likewise Agent Sanders," the blonde doctor smiled wanly as the elevator doors closed.

I wondered just how often the doctor visited headquarters. And did Agent Sanders even know who he really was? From the little I knew about the former Sandrock pilot, he had vanished after stepping down as CEO of Winner Enterprises seven years ago. In a highly publicized press conference, he had announced the dissolution of the company, donated all his assets to charity, denounced his role as a Gundam pilot and vowed to spend the remainder of his life atoning for the lives he had taken. The world had not heard hide or hair of him since. Looking at his appearance now, it was easy to see how he had evaded the media's scrutiny all these years. With a change in hairstyle, the addition of a beard and what was no doubt a growth-spurt, he looked nothing like the frail-looking teenager heir of the colony's largest conglomerate.

While I had been lost in my musings, the former pilot had retrieved an ice pack from the office's mini-fridge and dropped into my hands with instructions to sit down and ice my bumps and bruises. After that he had conjured up an electric kettle, seemingly out of thin air, and had disappeared down the hall, presumably to fill it with water. Moments later, he had returned and the kettle was set to boil while he rummaged through one of the office's filing cabinets.

"Umm… what are you looking for sir?" I wondered.

"Tea," he replied simply. "Duo usually has the most interesting blends on hand for when I come to visit. If I remember correctly, they should be… aha!" He straightened with a canister of tea in hand. "Now I just need to find the tea cups," he stated as he rifled through the cupboard that housed the team's coffee mugs.

"I don't think we have any teacups sir," I ventured hesitantly.

"Of course you do!" The doctor turned towards me with two tea cups, complete with saucers, in hand. I'd never seen them before in my life. And as the office's coffee gopher, I could have sworn that those hadn't been in the cupboard the day before.

The kettle whistled and soon I was seated in front of a cup of steaming tea.

"I always tell him he should get a tea strainer and buy loose leaf tea, but he insists on tea bags," Dr. Raberba sighed as he sat down across from me, delicately dunking the tea bag in and out of his teacup.

"Oh." I had no answer to that. I glanced down at the china in my hands and had to stifle a laugh. Although porcelain teacup itself was delicate in its design, emblazoned in bold letters across its surface were the words "Keep Calm and Drink Tea".

"Ah, the slogan? Amusing isn't it? Duo thought I would enjoy it. He's always collecting odd bits and pieces like this. He has quite the china collection at home."

"I know," the words popped without my permission.

"Oh? You've been to their house?" the blonde man asked me with a raised brow, steaming teacup raised to his lips.

"Umm… I went there with Agent Chang after Agent Maxwell was abducted."

"Ah. Duo always picks up a few pieces whenever goes abroad." The doctor delicately skirted around the landmine that was my missing mentor. "He has even gotten Heero into the habit of picking up pieces whenever he accompanies the Minister. Although of course, Heero's tastes are slightly more conservative."

"Oh," I wondered over that new piece of information.

"Mmmhmm," the doctor hummed before taking a sip of his tea and making a face. "What in the colonies?" He examined the canister of tea, a small smile pulling at his lips. "Triple Wildberry Passion Fruit Tango," he read aloud. "I never could convince him to settle for more conventional flavours," he sighed heavily and lapsed into silence.

I took a sip of my own tea. A cacophony of flavours dance on my tongue, but it wasn't unpalatable.

"It's not bad," I noted, glancing back up at the former-pilot but he wasn't listening. His light blue eyes were staring off into space, teacup steaming lightly inches away from his face and condensation forming on his short blonde beard.

I got the distinct impression that I shouldn't bother him and turned my thoughts inwards. Almost instantly I was plagued with a deluge of emotions. Relief, desperation, anger and shame. Relief that my mentor might still be alive, desperation at the knowledge that my mentor was likely still in the clutches of a deranged terrorist, anger that Agent Yuy would blame my mentor for his predicament and shame that I had gone so far as to assault one of my superiors. Looking back, I shivered at what could have transpired if Dr. Raberba had not intervened on my behalf. The burning eyes of Agent Yuy as he had turned on me hadn't been those of a soldier caught in the heat battle. They had been the eyes of a killer.

"Oh no. No sleeping for you, not with a concussion!" A gentle rebuke snapped me back into awareness after what had felt like only seconds.

"Huh?" I blinked blearily. When my vision focused, I discovered that I was practically nose to nose with the gentle doctor. "Uh... sir?"

"Hmm… your pupils aren't dilated anymore. That's a good sign. I've been meaning to ask you, which location was your squad patrolling when you stumbled across one of Gothe's cells?"

"Sir? I wasn't on patrol…"

"You weren't?"

"No sir. I'd gone to New Prague on my own when I was ambushed by some of Gothe's men."

"Oh… I'd assumed that you were part of the squad since you were injured. Wait!" he suddenly exclaimed, almost knocking over his now empty cup of tea. "Agent Sanders said you'd gone missing and…" he petered off in confusion.

"I was also taken prisoner by Gothe's men," I clarified.

"You were? But how did you manage to get away?" he frowned at me.

"I was rescued by Agent Barton sir." At the mention of his name, the former pilot when eerily still and I found myself babbling. "I didn't know it was him at all, in fact, I thought he was going to kill me! Oh, I knew that he had gone undercover. Agents Maxwell and Chang had a huge argument when he was sent in. But I'd never met him before sir, so I had no idea and oh, I won't tell anyone of course. I understand that his identity is top secret and…" My bumbling outburst petered out when I saw the haunted expression in the doctor's eyes.

"You saw Trowa?" The words were a whispered strain. "Was he alright?"

"Yes sir," I responded automatically. "He saved my life sir, I wouldn't be here without his help."

The pained expression in the blonde doctor's eyes turned maniacal. "No, you have your doubts!" he hissed at me. "I can feel them, here!" he placed his hand over my frantically beating heart.

"I-I, I don't know what you mean Dr. Raberba," my tongue stumbled over his name. I'd heard rumours of his unique ability, an ability to read into a person's soul, to get to the bare bones of a person's real emotions, whether they were conscious of it or not.

"You have your doubts over his well-being!"

I blinked at that fierce assertion. Doubts? And then it hit me, the uncomfortable feeling I had pushed to the back of my mind, too preoccupied with my close brush with death and my mentor's disappearance. "They… they didn't seem to trust him."

"Gothe's followers?"

"Yes… one woman in particular." I winced when his fingers contracted and started digging into my chest, forcing me to elaborate. "She said she'd put a bullet between his eyes if he screwed up…" His grip started to turn painful. My mind scrambled frantically at some way to extricate myself from this situation when the door suddenly opened and Agent Chang stepped into the room.

I had barely a moment to breathe a sigh of relief before Dr. Raberba whirled and grabbed a fistful of Agent Chang's collar, striking as swift as a cobra. "You need to get Trowa out of there!"

"Winner, I know you're concerned but-"

"His cover is about to be blown, if it hasn't already!"

"Why do y-"

"He," the blonde man pointed at me without turning around, "said that they were distrustful of him!"

Agent Chang shot me a scathing look over the doctor's shoulder before wresting himself free from his grip.

"Barton knows what he is doing. And trying to contact him at a crucial time like this is more likely to endanger him than anything else."

The colour drained from Dr. Raberba's face. "You've lost contact with him haven't you?"

"You must trust in his abilities Winner."

"Trust?" The former pilot's tone was taking on a hysterical edge. "He shouldn't be out there in the first place!"

I jumped in shock when a resounding slap reverberated through the room. "Get a hold of yourself Quatre," the Chinese agent's hand was still raised, open-palmed. "It his choice what he does with his life. Falling apart under this guilt you insist on shouldering is not going to change anything. So either you can help me uncover Gothe's real intentions or you can crawl back to that clinic of yours and carry out your so-called atonement."

Breathing heavily, Dr. Raberba glared back, his head still angled to the side, an angry red mark blossoming across his cheek. For my part, I tried to stay as still as possible, terrified of drawing attention to myself. Things were quickly spiraling out of control if these two former brothers-in-arms were turning against each other. Somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered if this was Gothe's true intention, to rattle the psyche of the world's five most feared and celebrated warriors.

"So," Agent Chang's voice was calm despite the anger I could see coursing through his body. "Tell me what you think Gothe is up to Quatre. I know you have not been sitting here idly drinking tea for the past half-hour."

"Duo's…" the blonde man took a deep breath before continuing. "Duo's 'public execution' is a red herring. Gothe is trying distract us from his real plans, to subvert our forces away from his true target."

Agent Chang nodded grimly. "I have come to the same conclusion. The bomb squads have located several explosive devices during their sweeps of all thirteen cities, but their destructive power is far smaller than we expected."

"But the bombs were functional?"

"Yes… but they were crude imitations of Maxwell's previous designs. Thankfully, it seems that Gothe was unsuccessful in obtaining Maxwell's cooperation."

Dr. Raberba paled and sat down heavily in his chair. "Oh Allah…"

"What is it?"

"Either Gothe has seen through Duo's plan or he didn't take Duo for his expertise in explosives!"

"What do you mean?" Agent Chang approached his former comrade and cautiously sat across from him.

"Duo allowed Gothe to capture him! Which would mean he fully intended to 'cooperate' with Gothe and provide him with his designs, but with inherent flaws that would render the bombs inoperative. Last time we talked, Duo told me that he was working on new designs for 'dummy' bombs. They would look completely functional and their flaws wouldn't be detected until someone tried to detonate them. But no one can even compare to Duo's expertise in bomb-making which means that…"

"Gothe needs him for something else. But what?"

"I don't know," the blonde doctor shook his head in exasperation. "All I know is that whatever Gothe's ultimate plan is, he'll probably execute it in the next 14 hours."

"Why 14 hours?"

"A full DNA test takes about 16 hours. It's been roughly two hours since the 13 'Duos' were killed. He planned to keep us distracted until we discovered that the real Duo Maxwell is still alive."

"And if he wanted us to think Maxwell was dead, it means that Gothe still needs him for something. But for what? It has to be for something explosive related. That is what sets Maxwell apart from the rest of us."

"The bomb-maker doesn't need to be alive for the bomb to detonate," Dr. Raberba refuted somberly.

"Leverage?" Agent Chang wondered. "But if he's targeting ESUN, it would make for more sense to take a representative hostage… Why does he need Maxwell?"

"He needs Duo for his piloting skills."

"What?" All three of us spun towards the open doorway to see Agent Yuy leaning against the doorjamb, his arms crossed a deep crease furrowing his brow.

"His piloting skills?" Agent Chang asked in a bewildered tone.

"He's the best evasive pilot among the five of us."

* * *

_AN: So... I promised myself that I would set aside writing and tackle RL for the next month and a half but my plot bunnies were running rabid. (must be all the Easter decorations :P) Plus Duo was loudly protesting that I couldn't leave him 'dead' for that long. Not to mention my muses were pestering me with a second story loosely intertwined with this one (any guesses?) Anyways, I must force myself to finish this first. And Appleseeds... *groan* _

_Anyways, thanks for all the reviews and comments! And thanks for sticking with the story even though I 'killed off' Duo. This is the second time I've done it... hmm.. maybe I'm starting to lack creativity. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and will continue to read. No timeline on when the next chapter will be up. (if all goes to plan, only two more chapters to go, huzzah!) _

_Ciao for now! _


	10. Second Breath

**DISCLAIMER:** Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

* * *

_**Second Breath**_

* * *

"Gothe wants Maxwell for his piloting skills?" Agent Chang's face was puzzled. "Even with Maxwell in the pilot's seat, there's only so much damage one suit can cause…" Dr. Raberba paled even further at the Chinese agent's statement, his lips pressing into a thin line.

"Gothe is aiming for the control grid of L1-C1001."

"The control grid is heavily protected, The entrance is guarded by motion-sensor beam cannons and mobile dolls. There is no possible way that one suit can immobilize all those defences!" Agent Chang protested before halting his tirade, his eyes growing wide. "Maxwell won't be piloting a suit will he?"

"No. Gothe will have him bypass the security in a stealth shuttle. If anyone can land the shuttle in one piece, it's Duo."

"And Duo's done it before," Dr. Raberba added.

"Maxwell would never pilot for Gothe!"

"He will. He has no choice." Agent Yuy's answer was short and blunt.

"How do you know all this?" Agent Chang demanded. "You were just in the dark as the rest of us until now."

"He sent me a message."

My Chinese superior bolted upright. "What? When? What was the message?"

"_Home_."

"Home?"

"It's all in here," Agent Yuy tossed a tablet Dr. Raberba before disappearing down the hall. It was at that moment that I realized that he was wearing a flight-suit under his Preventers jacket.

"Yuy!?" Agent Chang shouted, moving to go after him. "Where do you think you are going?"

"You need to look at this Wufei," Dr. Raberba called him back, his eyes rapidly scanning the tablet in front of him.

"Not now Winner, I need to stop that stubborn idiot from going to L1!"

"He's not going to L1. He's going to V08744 in L2." I was taken aback by the kind doctor's statement. Why would Agent Yuy go to L2 when Agent Maxwell was presumably being forced to fly to L1?

"Colony V08744? But that's Maxwell's home colony," Agent Chang's dark eyes widened. "And Colony C1001 is Yuy's home colony… But why V08774?"

Dr. Raberba handed his former comrade the tablet. "Gothe quietly gained control of V08774, right under our noses."

"That means that he will have 1.5 million people hostage, and 2 million more if he is successful in gaining control of C1001! I can understand V08774, he needs Maxwell's compliance but why C1001? Do not tell me this is another underhanded attempt at Operation Meteor?"

"It's symbolic. And the fact that no one has succeeded in accomplishing it must be appealing to him," Dr. Raberba sighed, looking sad and weary.

"What is the significance of C1001 though? The control grid in C1001 is internalized. He'll only be able to gain control of that one colony. C102, C421, even C1013 would be better targets since their control grids regulate the adjacent colonies and satellites."

"Hmm… It must be significant somehow."

"Didn't you just say Agent Yuy was from C1001?" I dared to venture into the conversation. Both men turned to me with surprised looks on their faces, as though they had forgotten I was in the room.

"You are still here?" Agent Chang asked incredulously. "Go home. You are not cleared for duty."

"If it's light duty, he should be alright," Dr. Raberba told Agent Chang distractedly as he thumbed through the tablet, "you need all the manpower you can get don't you?"

"Very well, do you feel well enough for light duties agent?"

"Yes sir."

"Then get changed into uniform and report to reception. Concerned," Agent Chang grimaced at the word, "civilians are clamouring down in the lobby. Help the staff down there calm them down and send them back to their homes."

"I'll stay here and try and find a connection between C1001 and Gothe. What will you do?"

"I will contact Merquise and tell him to organize a team to rendezvous at L2-V80774 with Yuy."

"I thought Zechs went to Mars?"

"He is still on the moon, refueling and restocking for the trip to Mars. He is the closest senior agent we have to L2."

"But why is Agent Yuy going to L2?" I blurted out as Agent Chang once again made to leave the office. "Shouldn't he be going to L1 to rescue Agent Maxwell?"

Agent Chang rounded on me with a glare that rivaled Agent Yuy's ice cold stare. "It is not your place to question your superior's actions! You would do well to remember that!" he snarled before storming out of the office.

I could only stare after him open mouthed. First Agent Yuy and now Agent Chang; Dr. Raberba, too, had raised no objections. Did none of them care about their brother-in-arms?

"Heero going to L1 won't change anything. He needs to deal with the hostage situation first."

"But…" I tried to protest.

"As long as Gothe has control over L2-V80774, Duo's hands are tied. Once Heero and the others manage to take control of the colony, Duo will be free take down Gothe."

"But…"

"Have faith in your mentor. Trust him to do his job and let him trust that you will do yours," he gave me a pointed look. "

* * *

Another set of alarms wailed overhead as I escorted the last of the civilians into the headquarters' underground bunker. The agent in charge gave me curt nod and turned back to reassuring the terrified group of civilians that they were safe. For now at least.

I hurried back upstairs, wanting to know what had set off the newest set of alarms. Barely an hour ago, Gothe's forces had launched an attack on all major global spaceports. As a result, Preventers headquarters had been reduced to a skeleton crew, only the minimum number of agents left behind to keep the offices operational. Even most of the rookies, agents that I had graduated from the academy with, had been sent out into the field.

"What's going on? Is it another attack?" I questioned the pale-faced receptionist as I sprinted into the lobby.

"It's, it's…" the quivering woman pointed to the news screen above, doing her best to contain her fear. I couldn't blame her. She was a civilian contractor after all, and I would bet that half the agents in the agency wanted to duck their heads in the sand and pretend that none of this was happening.

My jaw dropped when I looked up at the screen and recognized the bell tower behind a familiar pair of iron gates. "The University?"

Before the terrified receptionist could answer, someone grasped my arm in an iron-grip and dragged me out the main doors and into the parking lot.

"Dr. Raberba?" I gasped when I finally managed to turn my head around to get a look at him. "Sir?"

"You have field medic training right?"

"Uh, yes sir but…" I was cut off when I was unceremoniously dumped into the passenger seat of a medic car: not quite an ambulance, but stocked full of medical supplies for when Preventers were called in to assist paramedics and doctors at large scale accident sites, and less frequently, terrorist attacks.

"Seatbelt," he told me tersely as he turned the ignition, a ferocious look in his light blue eyes. He waited long enough to confirm that my seatbelt was buckled before tearing out of the parking lot, tires squealing.

"Umm doctor, what's going on? Where are we going?" I asked, grabbing a hold of the dashboard to stop myself from slamming into the door as we made a sharp left turn out of the parking lot.

"Gothe's rebels have attacked Sanq University. We had enough prior notice for the attacks on the spaceports to evacuate all civilians but we didn't know about the attack on the university until it was too late. Preventers forces are engaging Gothe's men right now but several civilians have been caught in the cross-fire."

Dr. Raberba's tone was clipped, but he sounded calm and in control. Not panicked like I was, watching as the needle on the speedometer continued to rise steadily. My training had included high-speed driving and evasive driving manuvers, but at much, much lower speeds. Sirens blazing, the vehicle wove in and out of traffic, taking corners at speeds that should have rolled the SUV. Unable to do anything, I clutched at my seatbelt with both hands and prayed that we wouldn't hit anything.

"Sir!" I couldn't help but shout in alarm when the doctor suddenly cut the wheel and we flew off the road, over a ditch and landed hard on one of Sanq National Park's access roads. "Wh-!" my teeth rattled in my head as the doctor guided the SUV down the pot-filled road through the trees.

"We're taking a short-cut," he informed me as though we were on a Sunday drive. "The roads ahead are jammed with cars fleeing the vicinity and emergency vehicles heading to the scene."

"I d-don't und-der-stan-d…" my teeth continued to rattle, making it hard to speak. "Wh-y t-the u-univer-rsity?"

"I don't really understand either," the doctor replied, his eyes firmly fixed on the winding road ahead. Despite the urgency of the situation, I wished that he would lower his speed. I guessed that we were heading for Sanq University, presumably as field medics, but we wouldn't do anyone much good if we ended up wrapped around a tree.

"The attack on the spaceports I understand. Gothe is attempting to cut off all travel between the colonies and earth. Oh don't worry," the doctor added as we fishtailed around a particularly sharp bend in the road, "Heero successfully launched hours before the attacks. He's probably already on L2 right now."

I tried my best not to flail as the former pilot guided the vehicle off the road and right into a small river, barely reducing his speed. I really hoped he knew where he was going.

"But the motivation behind attacking the university isn't as clear. Sanq University is the only university being targeted, and there is no real strategic advantage to be gained by attacking the university." He paused for a moment to guide the vehicle up a bank and back onto dry-ish land. "If I had to guess, it has something to do with his student days. He was a student at Sanq University, studied political science and religion while he was there."

I nodded mutely. This wasn't news to me.

"You knew?" The doctor gave me a sidelong glance that was too long for comfort. I really wished he would return his attention to the road…

"Yes sir, it was in his file."

"You're too pure-hearted to make a good liar."

"Sir?" I wondered but at that moment the SUV pulled free of the trees and onto a hill looking over the university campus. I could hear the rattle of machine gun fire and see plumes of smoke coming from the buildings below us.

"Med team Beta in position, southeast corner of main campus. Over." Dr. Raberba spoke into a radio he had unclipped from his belt.

"Roger. Injured civilians reported 500 yards from your position, squads Dorado and Lynx to your West, still drawing heavy fire. Reports of more hostile forces in the mountains to your North. Over." A voice I recognized as one of the senior field officers replied.

"Roger, we'll evacuate as many as we can. Treat and tag those that can't be moved. Over and out." Dr. Raberba clipped his radio back onto his belt. It was at this point that I'd realized he'd changed out of his suit and into a paramedic's gear, complete with a giant red cross on his back that identified him as a non-combatant. Not that Gothe's men paid attention to War Codes.

"Grab your gear agent!" he told me as he opened the back of the SUV and hefted a heavy duffle onto his shoulder. I swapped my jacket for a Preventers field medic jacket and grabbed another duffle filled with emergency medical supplies. My service weapon was already strapped to my hip but noticing that Dr. Raberba was unarmed, I moved to open the weapons locker.

"Leave it," Dr. Raberba pushed me to the side and slammed the back door shut. "I am doctor, not a combatant."

"But…"

"I have sworn to Allah that I will never take another life; that these hands will only be used to heal, never to harm. Move out agent. And be careful, this area is behind enemy lines."

Unable to reply, I scrambled down the hill after the doctor. Minutes later, we entered the first building to find a group of terrified students huddled in a classroom.

"Preventers!" Dr. Raberba announced in a loud but calming voice. "Is anyone injured?"

"Jeremy! And Lisa too!" a girl sobbed she clutched a young man bleeding heavily from a cut above his hairline.

"Take the man, I'll attend to the girl," Dr. Raberba ordered as he knelt next to the unconscious female student. "What happened?"

"We were in a study group when there was a sudden explosion that knocked us all to the ground. When we looked outside, we saw a bunch of rebels with guns and... they were taking away a bunch of students away," another young man explained in a quavering voice. "They didn't seem to notice us so we kept our heads down. They're gone now but we couldn't just leave them here!" he gestured to the two injured students.

I glanced out the blown out windows and saw the remnants of an explosion; a large hole had been torn out of the building across from us, papers fluttering everywhere. Pushing down the rising panic, I focused on the task at hand. Step one, assess the injury. Step two, diagnose the injury. Step 3, treat the injury. I carefully blotted, disinfected and cleaned the wound, doing my best to ignore the sobbing girl next to me. I covered the wound with more gauze and medical tape and then examined the man's eyes, breathing a sigh of relief when they were clear and focused.

"Status?" Dr. Raberba asked from behind me.

"Scalp cut, heavy bleeder but shallow. No concussion," I reported on autopilot, carefully checking for any further injuries.

"Can you carry her?" he asked the other man who nodded. "Good. You all need to get out of here. Head south and into the woods. A group of agents will meet you shortly."

Soon the terrified group of students had been led outside and we watched them disappear into the woods. "Civilians, group of four heading your way. Over."

"Roger. Squad Pavo will intercept. Out."

* * *

The same pattern continued for the next hour until we reached the northeastern portion of campus. Dr. Raberba and I would enter a building, clear all the rooms and search for civilians. Thankfully it was a Saturday so there had been few students on campus to begin with. Most of those who had been on campus had been able to escape while an unlucky few were injured or too afraid to escape. An even unluckier few had apparently been taken hostage. Those who were too injured to move on their own we treated as best as we could, 'tagged' them with GPS markers that would alert the organization that there were injured civilians that required extraction.

I was just thinking that we'd been lucky so far not to encounter any of Gothe's men when the ground began to rumble in the distance, knocking me off my feet. Momentarily dazed, my mind flashed back to the first time my mentor had taken me out into the field.

"_Now here's the thing to remember kid. If it seems like things are goin' too well, ten times outta ten, it means all hell's gonna break loose. An' of course Murphy's Law makes sure that when all hell breaks loose, all yer plans fall through. So kid, whaddya do when all plans are shot to hell?"_

"_Plan B sir?"_

_My mentor threw his head back and laughed. "Jeez, what are they teachin' you rookies these days? Ya can plan somethin' down to the last anal detail, but ya can only plan for what you know. Life never reveals all her secrets."_

"_Then what am I supposed to do sir?"_

"_You laugh off the fear and improvise!" _

When I saw the line of Leo's emerge from the forest just a few hundred yards away from us, the last thing I felt like doing was laughing. Although most mobile suits had been destroyed after the Eve Wars, the production of suits continued in the black market. Heavily favoured were Leos, due to their relatively simple design and the widespread availability of parts.

Caught out in the open, I quickly ducked behind a statute. Dr. Raberba slid in next to me just as the line of suits reached the outer limits of the campus and began to open fire. "As we suspected, Gothe did manage to get his hands on some Leos. But why would he use them here? It makes no sense strategically…" he mused as he peered around the statue and at the marching line of Leos. "Intel is reporting a group of students is being held hostage in the Religious Studies department just west of us." The blonde doctor pointed to a Church-like building approximately 500 yards from our position. Unfortunately, there was a unit of twenty or more Leos standing between us and the building. "We're going to have to make a run for it."

"What? Are you crazy?" I couldn't help but exclaim. Dr. Raberba was unarmed and I only had a service-issue piece, not that it would be any use against a legion of Leos.

"Once I give you the signal, run as hard as you can and don't stop until you've reached the Religious Studies building, no matter what happens."

"We won't even make 100 yards before we're cut down!" I was starting to wonder if the good doctor was in his right mind. I'd heard of my mentor pulling more than his share hair-brained stunts, but this was beyond hair-brained, this was delusional.

"A Leo's range of vision doesn't cover the area directly below it. And we'll have a distraction." Without waiting for my reply, he pulled out his radio and switched the frequency.

"Wufei, how far out are you?"

"Three minutes," was the immediate reply.

"There's a legion of Leos, twenty-three to be exact, that have entered the northern part of campus."

"I see them."

"We still need to get to the hostages, but we're on the wrong side. We need a distraction. Oh, and try not to bring the building down on our heads."

"Winner, if you are planning what I think you are planning, it is beyond foolish."

"I can't just leave them there!"

There was a heavy sigh over the radio. "When it comes to civilians, you never listen to reason. We will cover you."

"Roger," another voice joined in. I immediately identified it as Captain Noin's. "We'll draw their fire and try and keep them away from the building with the hostages. Keep your heads down. And if I tell you to get out, get out. You hear me?"

"Loud and clear. Winner Out." Dr. Raberba re-hooked the radio to his belt and shifted into a crouch. "Get ready to run agent."

Seconds later I heard the distant boom of the sound barrier being broken and looked south to see two white Tauruses in their aerial forms speeding towards us. The Leos saw them to and raised their guns to fire at the oncoming suits.

"Run!" Dr. Raberba shouted at me and took off at a sprint. Throwing all caution to the wind, I chased after him as he ran head-long at the cluster of Leos, nimbly weaving between their legs. Legs pumping, adrenaline coursing, I followed suit, supressing the voice in my head that was screaming that running through a small army of Leos wasn't 'laughing fear off and improvising' but a one-way ticket to hell. My own dash was far less graceful but I somehow managed to make around the clunky metal legs. Just as I cleared Leos and was making my final desperate dash for the church-like building, the ground shook and a sharp blast threw me forward, pitching me into clumsy aerial somersault that ended just a few feet away from the entrance of the building.

Pushing myself up onto my hands and knees, I swallowed a startled shout when I came face to face with the glazed eyes of one of Gothe's men, a perfectly round hole in the center of his forehead. Shaking the stars from my eyes, I quickly glanced around to gauge the trajectory of the bullet and frowned when I realized that it came from an area that hadn't yet been secured by the Preventers. In fact, gauging from the flashes of light and the rattle of gunfire, Preventers forces were still engaging with Gothe's followers over 2,000 yards away.

My contemplation of the dead man was interrupted when I was grabbed by the collar and bodily dragged into the building.

"Are you alright?" Dr. Raberba was quickly checking me for injuries.

"I'm fine sir, more stunned than anything," I replied.

"Good, we need to move quickly." Dr. Raberba was already in motion. We crept carefully through the corridors, mindful that we would no doubt encounter Gothe's rebels.

The first room we found was host to a half a dozen motionless figures. The doctor checked each body before shaking his head sadly with what sounded like a whispered prayer. We continued to carefully clear the remaining rooms on the first floor while the building shook from the battle just yards away, but soon the intensity of the quakes decreased and the sounds of battle drew away from our position. Once the floor was cleared we painstakingly crept up to the second floor. In the third room, we found another motionless body which Dr. Raberba immediately went to check.

As Dr. Raberba knelt over the prone form, I heard a soft moan coming from behind a row of desks. Quietly inching forward, I came across the body of a young woman bleeding heavily from her neck. She was barely conscious but her eyes burned with a desperate hopeful intensity when she caught sight of me. I pressed a wad of gauze to her neck, realizing with dread that one of her carotid arteries had been nicked.

"Well, well, well. Lookie at what I found!" a voice drawled. It was the same voice as one of my captors, the one I had not-so affectionately dubbed the 'ugly puppy'. "Who are you?"

I peeked through a gap between the desks and saw a brute towering over the blonde doctor. Dr. Raberba had his hands raised in surrender, still crouched next to the motionless body. "My name is Dr. Raberba and I am a non-combatant."

"Doctor?" The man grinned widely, pointing his gun squarely between the blonde man's eyes. "You ain't none too smart for a doctor are you? Coming here into _our_ territory," he taunted.

"Please put down your gun and surrender," Dr. Raberba pleaded. "Preventers forces will be here soon and your organization will be defeated. There is no need to shed any more blood."

"Defeat us? Ha! Today's the day boss takes over the world! Boss is gonna to make the rivers run red with your blood!" The dark-haired man waved his gun around with glee, madness in his eyes. If anything, Gothe excelled at identifying and encouraging fanatics.

"Senseless violence will not accomplish anything," Dr. Raberba was pleading again. I couldn't believe my eyes or my ears. He was a former Gundam pilot! Even unarmed, he should easily be able to take down the man, especially when he was recklessly waving his gun around like that. I wondered at the doctor's actions until I realized that he didn't intend to defend himself. A cold sweat overtook my body and my hands trembled. I could shoot the man, but that would mean removing my hands from the gushing wound on the girl's throat. And if I let go, she would no doubt bleed out in a matter of seconds.

As my soul was being wrenched back and forth between saving the girl or the doctor, I noticed a glint from a nearby building, the one directly across from the body outside.

'_When it comes to down to the wire, don't overthink it. Just go with yer gut_.'

The man holding the doctor hostage was just a few steps out of the line of sight. I needed him to move one step forward and to the left.

Throwing caution to the wind and putting all my faith in my mentor's words, I forcefully kicked a binder across the floor, causing it to hit the far left wall with a thump.

"What the-" The brute stepped forward and then immediately crumpled like a broken doll, a neat round hole drilled into his right temple.

Dr. Raberba looked equally as surprised as the dead man in front of him. He looked over to the window which had a matching round bullet hole but, by that time, the glint from the mysterious shooter's rifle had disappeared.

"Doctor!" I called desperately when all the tension in the girl's body suddenly slackened and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. "Young female, late teens or early twenties. Her carotid artery has been hit."

At my words, Dr. Raberba was at my side in an instant, his hands a blur as he worked feverishly to stem the bleeding.

Nerves still frazzled, I was wiping the blood off my hands when I heard the clatter of footsteps rapidly approaching. Of course the brute's babbling my desperate cries would have alerted the other rebels to our presence. Dr. Raberba looked up from where he was treating the girl and I met his gaze with a nod, unholstering my weapon and steadying my hands on the grip.

"_Now kid, I know they trained ya to shoot here," Agent Maxwell pointed at the centermost circle on the target, "but since this is a civilized age an' all, people kinda frown upon us Preventers using lethal force. So when ya wanna disable an armed enemy, ya shoot their right shoulder. Nine times outta ten, that's their dominant hand."_

"_And if they're left-handed or ambidextrous?" _

_Agent Maxwell grinned. "Then ya shoot 'em again, but this time aim for their left shoulder. Oh and don't forget to breathe. Inhale, aim. Exhale, shoot," Agent Maxwell's arm pointed straight out, his finger squeezed the trigger, the muzzle flashed and the shell casing tumbled into the air. "Inhale, aim. Exhale, shoot. Slow deep breaths. Don't rush it. It's better to hit the target the first time, ya don't wanna waste ammo. It's not unlimited like in the movies. In, Out. One shot for every breath." _

I could hear the stomping of five pairs of boots. There was only one open door into the room. The other door was locked. They would have to come in one at a time. I shuffled up to crouch behind the next row of desks, away from Dr. Raberba. I couldn't let him or the girl get caught in the crossfire. I picked the best vantage point to aim for the right shoulder, checked my weapon and waited.

The first man carelessly thundered in, followed closely by a second. One breath, a second breath and both men were down, clutching their shoulders. The rest weren't as reckless. Two hid on either side of the door, their weapons at the ready. The other I could hear inching towards the second door.

"_Now, the important thing to remember when yer pinned down is to confuse them. Trick 'em into coming out into the open. Aim low. An' don't forget, ya can always shoot through stuff."_

I crouched down behind the desks and shifted to my right. I risked a quick look to my left and saw that the doctor was continuing to tend to the girl, calm and efficient, as though he was completely unconcerned with the three armed men outside the door.

Taking a deep breath and then another, I popped up and fired off two rounds at the closed door. I was awarded with a muffled cry but wasted no time swivelling towards the open door and firing low, catching the fourth man in the thigh, but not before the two remaining men managed to fire off a shot each. I felt the displacement of air as a bullet whizzed past my face and then a searing pain in my upper left arm. I took another deep breath and fired at the fifth man. Except it wasn't a man, and she was left handed.

The woman fired again and the air from my lungs was knocked out. I fell onto my back, struggling to draw in a breath, my gun falling from my grasp and clattering out of my reach.

"You son of a bitch!" the woman snarled, advancing into the room. I recognized her voice right away. She was also from the cell that had ambushed me in New Prague, the woman who had been suspicious of Agent Barton. 'Not-Une's secretary' my mind unhelpfully supplied. "You're still alive! That traitor!"

The woman continued advance on me, gun pointed at my head. I tried to move, but I just couldn't seem to draw any air into my lungs. "I guess I'll just have to do the job myself," she spat.

Frantically, I continued to try and suck in air as I willed my body to move. And just as I saw her finger twitch on the trigger, she was suddenly sprawled face-first on the floor, Agent Barton's knee pressed down on her back.

"You bastard!" the woman was screaming. "Get off of me!"

"Relax agent," Agent Barton told me, his green eye of pool of calm as he ignored the screaming woman and held my gaze. "Don't fight it and just relax."

Ignoring my instincts, I listened to my superior and let my body fall slack. Finally I gulped in a lungful of air, and then another.

"I see that Duo taught you how to shoot, but he didn't teach you how to take a bullet," Agent Barton remarked in his calm voice, quickly zip-tying the woman's hands behind her back.

"He told me not to get shot in the first place," I gasped once I got my breath back.

I was rewarded with the tinniest of crinkling at the corner of his eye. "He's a smart man."

"Trowa!" Dr. Raberba exclaimed as he popped up behind us. He looked both overjoyed and dismayed to see his former comrade.

"Quatre," Agent Barton greeted with a small smile. "I knew you would get yourself tangled up in this mess. You're lucky Duo's rookie spotted me."

"Duo's rookie? Oh Allah!" The doctor's eyes alighted on me and he rushed over and hurriedly began unbuttoning my shirt.

"I'm fine sir," I wheezed at him. "It hit the vest. The girl?"

"She's stabilized, thanks to you. Good work agent." He then proceeded to prod my arm and I couldn't help but groan. "Just a flesh wound, the bullet went straight through," he informed me as he wrapped my upper arm tightly in gauze and medical tape.

The windows rattled and the sound of a powerful engine reverberated through the building. I sat up in alarm but neither man seemed concerned.

"I've cleared the rest of the building. Is the girl stable enough to move?" Agent Barton asked quietly, standing up to peer over the desks.

"Yes," Dr. Raberba nodded quietly.

"Then let's go."

* * *

Agent Barton, Dr. Raberba and I stood at the foot of Agent Chang's towering white Taurus. A med-evac unit had left just a few minutes ago, the injured girl safely in their care. Several hundred yards away, Preventers agents swarmed about the campus under the direction of Agent Chang, rounding up the defeated rebels, evacuating the injured and carting away body bags.

"The campus has been secured. The spaceports have all been secured as well. They should be operational within a few hours." Agent Chang called out as he walked up the hill towards us. "Yuy also called in. He said that his team has successfully relieved L2 of Gothe's control."

"Oh thank Allah," Quatre breathed a heavy sigh. "Any word on Duo?"

"Not yet, we-" At that moment, Agent Chang's radio crackled to life.

"Couldn't ya have kept at least one spaceport open for me Wufei?" My mentor's voice was teasing. "An' I went to all the trouble of trussin' Gothe up like a Thanksgiving Turkey for ya!"

"Maxwell?" Agent Chang practically ripped the radio from his hip.

"That's me!" Agent Maxwell laughed back. "Woah!" The connection went fuzzy for a moment, a garble of screeching noises. "Sorry 'bout that. Anyways, don't feel bad about the spaceports Wufei, I prolly wouldn't be able to land properly anyways…"

"What do you mean?" Agent Chang demanded anxiously.

"That's not good," Agent Barton suddenly remarked, looking up at the sky. We all looked up to see a small light steadily growing bigger until it took the shape of a space shuttle, streaking down towards the ground in the distance.

"He's rolling," Dr. Raberba gasped in aguish as we saw the shuttle tumbling out of control. "Oh no Duo, pull up, pull up!"

"He can't," Agent Barton replied placidly. "He's lost both engines."

"Maxwell?" Agent Chang shouted into the radio.

"Yeah… havin' some technical difficulties here… I'm tryin' to aim for Lake Geneva but it's gonna be a rough. Come an' fish me out?"

"Get control of that shuttle Maxwell!" Agent Chang yelled into the radio. "You land that damn thing, understood?"

"Aye aye captain," my mentor teased but I could hear the tension in his voice.

"Let's go Winner. Even if he pulls off the landing, he is going to need medical attention," Agent Chang grabbed a hold of Dr. Raberba, and hoisted them both up into the cockpit of the Taurus. Seconds later, I was pulled back by Agent Barton as the Taurus launched into the air, the force of its liftoff flattening us to the ground.

"No!" I cried out, watching in horror as the shuttle disappeared from view in the horizon. Even if Agent Maxwell managed to ditch the shuttle into the lake, the impact would cause the shuttle to break up and he'd either die on impact or drown. And even if by some miracle he survived, the Taurus was too far away to make it in time.

Miles away from the crash site, I could only sit silently in anguish.

"Don't lose hope," Agent Barton spoke up from behind me. "There's no smoke, which means Duo gained enough control to aim for the lake."

"But Agent Chang and Dr. Raberba won't make it there in time," I lamented.

"No they won't. But Heero will."

"What?" I gasped turning to look up at Agent Barton. He was looking up at the sky with a half-smile on his face.

I turned to see what he was looking at and saw a second, smaller shuttle hurtling down towards Earth.

* * *

_AN: One down, one more to go (fingers crossed). I really really shouldn't be writing right now, since I have a million other things I should be doing._

_Quatre features pretty prominently in this chapter. He's always been the hardest character for me to write. I find that a lot of times he ends up a bubbly cherub, a sadist (really people?) or a super rich business tycoon with his fingers in every pie (ok, so I can see the last one). But to me, he's always struck me as the one that would be the most deepy affected by the wars. Also during the first part of the series, Quatre struck me as really weak and girly. Later on, I realized I was sorely mistaken. _

_But back to the point. I wanted to have some flashbacks to when the rookie was being trained by Duo, and how Duo has influenced the rookie as a Preventers agent, which is why this chapter is mainly about the rookie's involvement in the field. A little baptism by fire. :P_

_Anyways, thank you thank you for all the reviews, reads and favs. I hope you'll all tune in for the finale ;) _


	11. Second to None

**DISCLAIMER:** Gundam Wing is property of its rightful owners and I in no way assert any sort of claim over its characters and storylines. Everything non-Gundam Wing is mine.

* * *

_**Second to None **_

* * *

The headlines proclaimed it as the greatest landing of the century.

Satellite footage of the landing was replayed over and over on the newsfeeds. And no matter how many times I saw it, I couldn't help but marvel at the miraculous landing. It was, as many news networks reported, a thing of beauty.

Against all odds, my mentor had somehow managed to get the engines back online; just in time to give him the necessary thrust to level out the shuttle. And then, as graceful as a bird, the shuttle skimmed across the surface of the lake before coming to a gentle stop on its sandy shores. The video cut out after that when the Preventers shut down the video feed from the satellite.

What happened after that was unclear but the rumour mill was spinning full force. According to the rumours, Agent Yuy made a less graceful but equally efficient landing in the lake. By the time Agent Chang, Dr. Raberba and the rescue crew had landed, Agent Yuy and my mentor had been busy pulling prisoners out of the shuttle, as well as chasing after the few that dared to try and escape. Everything seemed to have ended well. Too well, as my mentor would say.

Soon after the rescue crew had landed, my mentor had collapsed from internal injuries. Although he had been a little roughed up during his time with Gothe, his real injuries had come from the shuttle's uncontrolled descent into the Earth's atmosphere. Thankfully, Dr. Raberba had been next to his friend's side and had whisked him away to Sanq Memorial Hospital. A team of Sanq's best surgeons had operated to staunch the internal bleeding and although they were forced to remove his spleen, my mentor was now on the path to a full recovery.

"Actually, it's a miracle he hadn't lost his spleen sooner!" Agent Sanders was telling me from his hospital bed. "There was that time in Budapest, and then that time when we…"

Shortly after I'd witnessed my mentor's shuttle plummet to the earth, I'd been whisked away by one of the med-teams for medical treatment at Sanq Memorial. My bullet wound had been stitched up and I had been administered a tetanus shot in addition to a multitude of other painful injections when one of the medical residents, upon hearing that I'd taken a shot to the vest, thought to send me off to the radiology department for X-rays. It turned out that I had three fractured ribs and I was admitted to the hospital overnight for observation.

Since the hospital was overflowing with injured Preventers agents, civilians and Gothe's rebels, all rooms were crammed to capacity. Thankfully, some kind soul had seen to it that I was assigned to a room with fellow members from the Surveillance and Infiltration division. My teammates had been out in the field on the Henderson case when intel about the imminent attacks on the spaceports had been received. As they had been in the vicinity, the team was one of the first responders, resulting in a heavier casualty rate compared to the other teams. Thankfully, none of my team members had been fatally wounded. I liked to think it was because Agent Maxwell ran a tight ship, even when he wasn't physically present.

"…don't look so upset rookie!" Agent Sanders' voice filtered back into my consciousness. I rolled my head to look at him. He'd suffered two serious breaks in his right leg but he was as jovial as usual, even though his leg was in a clunky cast and suspended from the ceiling. "He's gonna be just fine! You can live just fine without a spleen, I mean, just look at Floria! I say she got even prettier after she had her spleen removed."

"Shut up Greg," Agent Matos snapped from behind her curtain. "I'm trying to sleep here."

"See kid?" Agent Sanders winked at me. "She's still a spitfire!"

"I swear to God, if you don't shut your trap, I'm going to tell your wife that you were flirting with the nurses again!"

"Ruin my fun will you," the grizzled agent muttered under his breath. "Watch out for women kid, if you don't choose wisely, they'll be the ruin of you. Take Gothe for example."

I sat up at the mention of Gothe. "What do you mean sir?"

"He went from notorious terrorist to a whipped sissy because of some woman. Haven't you heard the latest? They say that Gothe was trying to gain control of L1-C1001 as a present to his new lady friend! Can you believe it"?"

I blinked in surprise. "A present?"

"Yep. They say that Gothe's new lady friend was originally from there. And her father had at one point made a run for governor of the colony but was decimated at the public polls; something about a bribery scandal too. Anyways, seems like the lady had a major beef with the colony. Sanq University too. They say it wasn't Gothe that ordered the attack on the university but his lady friend. Don't know what her beef with the university was, but she completely exposed herself and the rest of Gothe's crew so it worked out for us in the end. Still, that's one crazy lady."

"Was she caught?"

"Yep. My sources say that it was Agent Barton himself who brought her in, although no one actually saw the guy. Say, weren't you dispatched to the university? They say he was there too! Did you see him?"

I was saved from having answer by Agent Matos. "Would you shut up already Greg? You're forty-year old man but you're an even worse gossip than the entire secretarial department combined!"

* * *

I really wished I'd let the nurse take me back to my room after I'd been taken back down the radiology department for a second set of X-rays. But my stupid pride had bristled at the thought of being wheeled around like an invalid. Using the excuse that I wanted to stretch my legs, I'd insisted on walking back to my room. And since I hadn't been paying attention during my mortifying wheelchair ride down to the radiology department, I was now hopelessly lost. In fact, I didn't even know which floor my room was on, much less the room number. I wandered around aimlessly in my flimsy plastic slippers and hospital gown, hoping that I would recognize something or someone familiar. I really didn't want to have to go to the nurse's station and ask which room was mine; I didn't think I would ever live down the embarrassment.

Just as I was about give in and ask for directions, an attending exited one of the private rooms and I caught sight of my mentor. He was asleep, a dark bruise blossoming on the side of his face. For the first time, I saw his hair out of its customary braid and in a loose side ponytail. I was struck motionless by how young and vulnerable he looked. Because my mentor's presence was so much larger than life, I had forgotten that he was barely half a decade older than me. It was a shocking realization.

Just before the door closed completely, I caught a glimpse of Agent Yuy sitting in silent vigil at my mentor's side. One hand tightly clasped my mentor's left hand while the other was resting gently over the tattoo on my mentor's forearm.

"What are you doing here?" A stern looking nurse demanded from behind me. "This area is off limits!"

"I'm so sorry! Umm…" I didn't know what to say, having been caught red-handed with my hand in the cookie jar. I really doubted that she would believe that I'd gotten lost, even though it was truth. No doubt she must have thought that I was some busybody come to stick my nose where it didn't belong.

"Here you are!" Dr. Raberba appeared at my side in a doctor's coat. "I've been looking for you. I apologize Nurse Copeland, it's my fault, in my absentmindedness I told the agent here to come to the wrong place!"

"Oh is that so?" the nurse continued to frown but seemed to be placated by Dr. Raberba's explanation and returned to her stack of charts.

Dr. Raberba raised his index finger, gesturing for me to wait. "I'm sorry Vera, I'll have to call you back," he spoke to his tablet and I caught sight of a pretty young woman with curly red hair and gray eyes.

"I went to find you this morning but they told me that you hadn't come back from your appointment," Dr. Raberba informed me after he disconnected the call.

"I uh… got lost on my way back from the radiology department… and uh… I'm ashamed to say that I don't know my room number," I admitted. This was far worse than confessing to one of the nurses that I was lost.

"You're worried about Duo?"

"Well that too sir, but I really wasn't meaning to snoop, I swear!"

Dr. Raberba nodded but I couldn't tell if he believed me. Despite openly showing more expression than the other former pilots, for some reason, he was just as inscrutable as his comrades. Not to mention his facial hair helped to distort his expressions, and perhaps it was intentional.

"I need to discuss something with you," he told me as he opened the door to a private office and ushered me in.

Mystified, I sat down in the chair he pointed to and scuffed my slipper clad feet on the floor, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Am I being reprimanded for my conduct sir?" I asked when he took a seat across from me and didn't speak for a long time, instead typing a quick message on his tablet before studying me, as though contemplating how to breach whatever topic he wanted to speak to me about.

"Should I be?"

"Well… I did act against Agent Chang's direct orders… twice," I offered. "And I umm… got into a… umm… 'altercation' with Agent Yuy…"

"That's true. But I'm not an official member of the Preventers, so it's not my decision whether or not to report or even reprimand you. That will be up to Wufei or Heero."

My stomach dropped. Agent Chang was known to be a stickler for the regulations. Apparently he operated on the philosophy that a lack of strict adherence to protocol would result in the dissolution of order. And as the head of Tactical Ops, it made sense. One misstep and countless lives could be lost. As for Agent Yuy, I didn't even want to think of the repercussions of trying to assault my superior officer.

"But never mind that for the time being. What I'm interested in is why you went against Wufei's direct orders," Dr. Raberba informed me, his fingers forming a steeple as he scrutinized me, "and why you went so far as to lash out at Heero."

"Sir?" I was at a total loss as to what he meant. "I was just trying to do my part to help out… and well there's no excuse sir, but I thought that Agent Maxwell was dead and… I honestly lost my temper with Agent Yuy's criticism of Agent Maxwell."

"Let me clarify," Dr. Raberba smiled gently but his eyes were sombre. "Were you acting in your capacities as a Preventers agent, or out of your admiration and loyalty to Duo?"

My world was suddenly turned upside down. Up until now, all my focus had been on becoming a respectable agent, a person as far removed from my _father _as possible. Yet, somewhere along the way, my goals and motivations had changed without my realizing.

"I take it that it's the later," Dr. Raberba answered for me when I couldn't. He fell silent again and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"There's something you need to know about Duo," he began at long last. "I would really rather not have this discussion, or even disclose this information to you, but I think it would be grossly unfair of me to do otherwise."

"Sir?" I couldn't even begin to guess what he was going to tell me.

Again, Dr. Raberba fell silent, pushing a few pieces of paper around the desk in contemplation. "Do you know about the rookie before you?"

I blinked at that. "Yes sir, I believe her name was Agent Linder."

Dr. Raberba nodded. "Duo's always been very particular with the members of his team, and he became even more so after Agent Linder's, Emily's, injury in the field. You see, she had become quite… _attached_ to Duo, and well, she completely disregarded her safety, even her duty as a Preventers agents, and acted solely to protect _him_."

"Sir?" I'd already heard the story from Agent Sanders but I didn't quite understand what point Dr. Raberba was trying to make.

"It's really not my place to say, but Duo has a childhood trauma that makes it difficult for him to process death."

I felt the ground drop out from under me at this revelation. How could this be? My mentor was someone who had once proudly proclaimed himself the 'God of Death'.

Dr. Raberba took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't know the full story myself, but… Duo feels…" Dr. Raberba seemed to be searching for the right words, "at fault when people close to him are injured or killed."

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't really understand…"

Dr. Raberba scratched at his beard, an action that seemed very unlike him. "I don't fully understand it myself, but it seems that Duo believes that the injury or the fatality is caused by his relationship to the victim… not by the circumstances surrounding the injury or death. I know it's not logical, and I'm sure he knows that it's not logical either… but when it comes to traumas, all logic goes out the window. So when someone close to him comes close to death, he tends to react quite badly. And that's putting it mildly. After transferring Emily out of his division, he wouldn't even hear of taking another rookie for years, no matter what anyone said. So we were overjoyed when he finally decided to take on a new rookie, and that rookie was you."

Dr. Raberba fidgeted with the papers on the desk again before continuing. "I think Duo chose you because you were a bit of a lone wolf. You didn't develop any attachments at the academy or at university. I don't know if you've noticed this yourself, but you keep everyone at an arm's length by never calling them by their first name. It's always 'sir', 'ma'am' or 'agent'. Your records all indicated that you're very goal orientated and it seemed that your main objective in life was to become a competent agent, first and foremost. Your instructors reported that you always kept your head down and did the work that you were assigned. In short, on paper, you were aloof and detached. Of course, it's a given that you had the requisite skills he was looking for as well."

"Now," Dr. Raberba raised his hand when I opened my mouth to speak, "that might have been his logical reason. But I firmly believe that unconsciously, he chose you because he identified with you. Your background is not dissimilar to his and you have the same dogged stubbornness when it comes to things you believe in. I think he saw in you, a younger version of himself, a younger self he wanted to give a different future. One of the most heart wrenching things I've heard him say was that he fought in the war so that others didn't have to grow up the way he did."

"We were all elated when he seemed to take to you. In fact, we were shocked when he started to pay special attention to you and even brought you in on Gothe's investigation. But he got attached, and so did you… and when he hears of what happened… Well, in truth, he probably already knows of your capture and narrow escape…"

I finally put two and two together. I thought that my heart would shatter into a million pieces. "He's going to transfer me out of the division…" I choked out.

"Well…" Dr. Raberba hesitated. "I don't know for sure. He hasn't woken up yet… but I wanted you to be prepared, to perhaps take the first step even."

"The first step?"

A sharp rap at the door interrupted our conversation.

"Ah! Perfect timing!" Dr. Raberba exclaimed. "Come in!"

Agent Chang stepped into the room with a folder in hand. "I see Winner's already broken the news," he commented after taking one look at my face. "I've made a few inquiries and I think I've found something quite suitable," he told me as he handed me the folder. Inside was a job application for the VS division in New York, as well as a job description for an opening in the VS division.

"The VS division?" I asked in shock. VS stood for 'vulnerable sector', and the division dealt with crimes and incidents involving the vulnerable sector of the population, namely children, the elderly and the disabled.

"Before applying to the Preventers Academy, you were studying to become a social worker, were you not? Your educational background is quite well suited to becoming a member of the VS division," Agent Chang replied.

I swung to face Dr. Raberba. "You think _I_ should transfer divisions?"

"Well, the decision is ultimately up to you, but I think you should explore it as one of your options moving forward."

"But I…" I didn't even want to consider the prospect of voluntarily leaving my mentor's side. "The job description says they're looking for an agent with at least 2 years experience," I hedged, trying to find some way out.

Agent Chang shrugged. "Those are just guidelines. I think your actions in the field yesterday prove that you are more than qualified. I, of course will provide you with a letter of recommendation if you choose to apply."

I blinked in shock at that. "But I disobeyed a direct order from you! Twice!"

Agent Chang huffed and glared at me. "You do not need to remind me agent. I am willing to overlook your indiscretions on the condition that you will be more sensible in the future. More importantly, putting aside Maxwell's neuroses aside, I believe it is prudent that you distance yourself from Sanq for the time being."

"Sir?"

My Chinese superior cleared his throat before answering. "Given your _personal_ connection to the case, and the fact that Gothe will be incarcerated and tried in Sanq, it would be better that you remove yourself from any… distractions." He finished delicately.

Blandly, I noted that I'd never seen Agent Chang speak so diplomatically before. He was never one to shy away from the brutal truth. And then it hit me. "You know?" I exclaimed in horror.

"I do not appreciate Maxwell and Yuy trying to pull the wool over our eyes, but I understand their reasons for doing so. Well, Maxwell's reasons. Yuy will do almost anything Maxwell asks of him," he grumbled almost to himself. "To the point," he continued a louder voice, "you can see why this is a good opportunity and a wise decision."

I could feel the world around me crumbling. In course of a few minutes, I realized that my life had taken an abrupt turn that I hadn't even noticed, and now my life was yet at another crossroads. And I didn't want to take any of the paths in front of me.

"You don't have to decide now," Dr. Raberba told me gently, silencing Agent Chang with a look. "I know it's a lot to take in, and I don't envy your position. And I know that you don't want to, but I encourage you to give it some thought."

Unable to think of any kind of retort, I could only sit and nod my head dumbly.

* * *

It'd been five days since I had been discharged from the hospital and four days since Agent Maxwell had been declared well enough to receive visitors. I'd been given a week's paid leave and had been spending my days in a daze, rearranging my apartment, idly watching TV while avoiding all the news reports, pretty much doing everything possible to avoid facing reality.

Wiping my sweaty palms on my pants, I followed Dr. Raberba down the halls towards my mentor's hospital room. He'd called me that morning, telling me that I should come to the hospital to visit Agent Maxwell. I tried to ignore the fact that Dr. Raberba thought I should come, not that Agent Maxwell had asked to see me.

"Dr. Raberba," a smiling nurse greeted us. "Dr. Franklin is just finishing up with Agent Maxwell."

"Oh, then we'll just wait for him to finish," the blonde doctor smiled and guided us to the chairs just outside my mentor's room.

"Hey doc, did ya see the plates Heero bought when he was on L3 with the princess?" Agent Maxwell's cheerful voice filtered through the closed door. Despite my nervousness, I was happy to hear that my mentor's voice had returned to its usual volume.

"Ah, very nice. They look antique," a deep voice answered in a quieter voice. I presumed it was the doctor's voice.

"Yep! Gothe had these crazy stained glass-like goblets I think would go well with these plates. I wanna hunt down a couple like 'em. Oh hey, Heero, all of Gothe's estate will be seized as possible proceeds of crime right? Ya think they'll go up for government auction eventually?"

There was a murmured reply that was too low to hear, but it was unmistakably Agent Yuy's vocal timbre.

"Well, you're back to your usual spirits Mr. Maxwell. And everything looks good so I'm going to go sign your discharge papers. But I want you to take it easy for the next few weeks. Medical leave for two weeks and then light duties until I give you the green light."

"Awww… come on doc!"

There was another low murmur.

"Ok, ok, fine Heero. I'll listen to the doc for now."

"Good, we'll see you in two weeks then Mr. Maxwell." A balding doctor exited the room, nodded at Dr. Raberba before handing a chart to the waiting nurse and engaging her in conversation.

Dr. Raberba wasted no time in knocking on the door and making his way into the room.

"Heya Quatre!" Agent Maxwell greeted him cheerfully. "Oh, heya kid!" My mentor's grin stayed firmly in place but the cheer had drained from his eyes.

Agent Yuy looked up from where he sat next to Agent Maxwell's beside and exchanged a long look with Dr. Raberba. "I'll go home and get you some clothes," he stated, rising from his seat. He leveled a stern look at me before exiting the room.

"And I'm going to pop into Dr. Hawkins' office. I want to talk to him about my clinic," Dr. Raberba also beat a hasty retreat, leaving me alone with my mentor.

"I hear ya got up to some wild antics while I was gone. They say ya almost gave Wufei a mild stroke," he laughed but his laugh was stiff lacked his usual luster.

"Yes sir… I'm very sorry."

Agent Maxwell shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, I guess I rubbed off on ya a bit…"

"I'm really relieved that you're alright sir. I was really worried," I was struggling to maintain my composure.

"Well, you can stop worryin'. I'm gettin' discharged today. I'll be good as new before you know it!" My mentor seemed to look anywhere but at me. He fiddled with sheets, scratched a cut on his face and gazed out the window. "I heard you had a couple of visits to the ER too…"

Seeing my mentor's tense body language, as much as I didn't want to, it was now crystal clear what path I had to take.

"Sir… There was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Shoot," Agent Maxwell met my gaze for a moment before fluttering away.

"There's an opening in the VS division in New York."

My heart broke when I saw the anxiety drain from my mentor's tense features, but it let me know that I had made the right decision. "I took a lot of sociology courses in university and before becoming an agent, I'd always wanted to be a social worker. I think the VS division would be a good fit for my skills." I wasn't lying, I just wasn't telling the whole truth. I had learned from the best after all.

My mentor was nodding in agreement. "I think yer right kid. It would be a really good fit."

I took a deep breath. "I know I still have five months left on my rotation, but the opening will be filled soon and I'd like to submit an application." I took a deep breath. "So I was wondering if you'll give me your permission and blessing to apply."

"Of course rookie! You don't have to be so formal about. Chances like these don't grow on trees. You gotta grab 'em when while you can."

"Could I trouble you for a letter of reference sir?"

"Sure thing kid!" My mentor's smile had almost returned to its usually brightness. "I'll have a lotta free time for the next week or so. I'll be sure to write ya a killer reference."

"Thank you sir." I rose from my seat. "I really appreciate everything you've done for me. You're really the best mentor I could have ever hoped for and more."

Dr. Raberba was waiting for me outside the door. I'm sure he knew what had transpired the minute he saw me exit the room. Seeing the mournful but understanding look cross his face, I couldn't help it and broke down. He quickly ushered me away to a corner and patted me on the back as I sobbed my heart out.

"I really wish it could have ended differently, I really do," he told me as he handed me a box of tissues.

"I feel so stupid," I told him as I scrubbed at my face. "I'm a grown man and I'm crying over a stupid transfer. Six months ago I would have bent over backwards to apply for a position in VS. And now I'm…"

"It's not stupid at all," the good doctor assured me. "And I want you to know that you are in no way responsible. None of this was your fault."

I looked up to see that the blonde doctor also had tears in his eyes. "We might have been hailed as heroes, but real truth is, we're human too, we have our flaws. And sometimes those flaws cause us to hurt ourselves and those closest to us."

I could only nod numbly, my tears continuing to flow.

"You had to make an awful decision today, a decision you shouldn't have had to make in the first place. But for Duo's sake, you made the right one. Duo was really lucky to have had you watching his back."

* * *

"Woah!" Agent Sanders commented as a tall man with long platinum blonde hair strode past our office at a furious pace. "Look at those sparks coming off the Lighting Count!"

"What's gotten into him? And I thought he was on the Mars mission?" Agent Torres wondered, wandering over with his cup of coffee, his children's photos plastered all over the mug.

After returning to work on light duties earlier this week, I found myself paying closer attention to the other members of the Surveillance and Infiltration division. That was when I noticed that they all shared one unique quality. They all had something of utmost importance in their lives, whether it be a lover, their family, the job or a hobby. And that one special thing was something that they would always prioritize over anything else. After Dr. Raberba's revelations, I knew it was no coincidence. Agent Maxwell had carefully selected agents from whom he could keep a friendly but suitable distance.

"You didn't hear?" Agent Sanders' grizzled face was alight with mischief. Despite having to hobble around on a pair crutches, Agent Sanders was in high spirits as usual. Especially since it seemed like he had a juicy piece of office gossip to share. "Heero Yuy 'borrowed' his personal, customized shuttle to fly to earth and ditched it in Lake Geneva. He's just found that his ship's unsalvageable."

"Unsalvageable?" Agent Torres seemed stunned. "Isn't Yuy one of the best pilots there is?"

"Probably," Agent Sanders shrugged. "But he was too busy parachuting out of the shuttle to care about landing it properly. And you wanna hear the real kicker? Rory down in mechanics says that the shuttle boss crash-landed can be certified space-worthy with just a few minor repairs!"

"Shit, no wonder Agent Wind's pissed."

"Hey rookie! There's a call for you on Line 2," Agent Matos yelled at me from across the room.

"Thank you for holding, this is-"

"When can you start?" the booming voice on the other end of the line interrupted me before I could finish my sentence.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Oh sorry, I got ahead of myself there. This is Agent Barkins, head of VS, New York division. We're running short-handed right now and we can't wait to get you on board!"

My jaw dropped. I'd just submitted my application the day before yesterday. I hadn't expected to hear back so soon, more or less get the job. "I got the job?"

"Of course you got the job! I would be a fool not to hire you! You've worked under both Duo Maxwell and Wufei Chang and they both sent me glowing letters of reference. Hell, I even got a call from Heero fucking Yuy!" the man on the other end laughed loudly.

I thought my eyes would bulge out of my head. "Agent Yuy sir?"

"The one and only! He called me up out of the blue, didn't say much but told me that I'd be an idiot not to hire you. So, back to my original question: when can you start?"

"As soon as I can get my affairs in order sir."

"Great! I'll get started on the paperwork and you let me know once you've got everything sorted out on your end. Oh, and let's dispense with the formalities. You're part of the team now! Call me Jack."

Although every fibre in my body rebelled, I complied. "Thanks Jack. I look forward working with you."

I wasn't lying. I just wasn't telling the whole truth.

* * *

"Hey Lou! Another round of drinks all around!" Agent Sanders shouted at the bartender. The bar was having some sort of theme night and the venue was lit soley by black lights, causing all the drinks to glow an eerie neon blue, pink or green.

"I gotta get home to put my kids to bed," Agent Torres half-protested raising a pink glass to his mouth.

"Aww, you have time for one more round of drinks! Right kid?" Agent Sanders slapped me hard on the back and I sploshed some of my blue drink onto the table. It didn't really matter. I didn't want to drink it anyways and the neon colour was starting to give me a headache.

It was my first, and last, outing with the team. Despite all the chaos surrounding Nigel Gothe's capture, the Surveillance and Infiltration division had somehow managed to wrap up the Henderson case, successfully putting an end to a string of high profile bank robberies. Tonight was a celebration of that accomplishment.

It was also my last night as a member of the team.

I'd submitted the requisite paperwork, packed my belongings and terminated my lease. Tomorrow, I'd fly out to New York to begin my new job at the VS division in the New York offices of the Preventers. I hadn't told anyone and I'd begged HR to keep my transfer secret until I had safely boarded my flight to New York. I didn't think I'd be able to announce the news or deal with any of the resulting questions without breaking down. HR had reluctantly complied, and I suspected it was only due to some form of intervention on the part of Agent Chang. The Chinese agent had called me into his office mere hours after I'd gotten off the phone with Agent Jack Barkins in New York. He'd offered me his congratulations and presented me with a copy of Sun Tzu's "Art of War" but kicked me out of his office before I could thank him properly.

"What's the matter rookie?" Agent Sanders pulled me aside as I came back from the washroom. "You've been nothing but doom and gloom for the past two weeks! You worried about the boss? Don't be, I hear he's coming back to work tomorrow. Shit! Speak of the devil, here he is!"

"Heya gang! I heard ya nabbed the baddies without me!" Agent Maxwell shouted jovially as he strode into the bar and towards our table. He laughingly exchanged hugs and backslaps before sitting next to Agent Matos who was now on her fourth, bizarre-looking cocktail. I tried not to let the hurt show when he carefully managed to skirt around me without anyone noticing.

"You shoulda seen the look on their faces when we turned the tables on them!" Agent Sanders laughed jovially. "I thought they were gonna piss their pants!"

"What the hell? You weren't even there!" Agent Matos sloshed her drink in the portly agent's direction.

"Hey! I was watching from the surveillance van!" Agent Sanders protested. "And might I say, you looked particularly ravishing when you smashed Henderson's face into the wall!" The older agent winked, causing the entire table to erupt into boisterous laughter.

"Shut it old man!" Agent Matos snapped back, but it was in good humour.

I felt a pair of eyes on me and looked up from my drink to see Agent Maxwell staring at me intently. When I met his gaze, he quickly looked away and raised his arm to get Lou's attention.

It was then that I saw it. Glowing brightly between the two tattooed lines on my mentor's forearm was the number '01'.

Seeing the tattoo's true form under the black lights brought the events of the past month rushing back into the forefront of my mind and I was suddenly hit with the realization that I would be leaving of all this behind tomorrow. I would be leaving behind the city where it had all begun, the offices that housed legendary heroes of the wars and most of all, I would be leaving the side of the mentor I both respected and admired more than anyone. Even now.

But when it came down to it, I really hadn't had a choice in the matter. Whether I chose it or it was chosen for me, it was undeniable that I would have had to leave. At least this way, I felt that I had been the one to leave, and not the one left behind.

Unable to take it anymore, I grabbed my coat off the back of my chair plunked down a few bills for my share of the bill.

"You leaving already?" Agent Sanders asked me in disbelief. "We're only getting started here!"

"I'm not much of a drinker," I confessed. I didn't need to tell him that I had an early flight to catch tomorrow.

"No way, you gotta stay for at least one round of drinks with the boss!"

"If wants to go, let him go!" Agent Matos waved him away. "Someone's got to be sober enough to answer the phones tomorrow morning."

"That's true. The phone's gonna be ringing off the hook with reporters asking about our heroic exploits!" Agent Sanders laughed loudly and slapped me on the shoulder. "See ya tomorrow rookie!"

I just smiled in response and beat a hasty retreat. Once outside I gulped a few lungfuls of the cool night air and headed towards the bus stop. I stopped in my tracks when I spotted a familiar black SUV.

"Agent Yuy?" I approached the man leaning against the car, his head tilted upwards as he stared up at the night sky.

The legendary agent met my gaze but didn't say anything.

Now that I'd called out to him, I couldn't just continue on my way without saying anything. "I'm really sorry about before sir. My behaviour in the morgue I mean."

Agent Yuy merely shrugged.

"I also have to thank you. I heard that you called Agent Barkins in New York, I really appreciate it."

He shrugged again.

"And… well… thank you for not telling anyone about my… father…" I couldn't quite put the extreme gratitude I felt into words.

"My father wasn't someone to be proud of either."

I was taken aback by that response. "Oh…" I replied stupidly. For a moment I thought to ask why but realized it was none of my business. "Aren't you going to join Agent Maxwell and the others?"

"No," Agent Yuy's tone was neutral. "It's his time. I'll wait until he's ready to go home."

Comprehension about Agent Maxwell and Agent Yuy's true relationship struck me like a ton of bricks. Agent Yuy wasn't the one putting the distance between himself and my mentor. My mentor was. It made sense now: the separate apartment, the joint house, Agent Maxwell's insistence on putting himself in the line of fire. And why Agent Yuy understood Nigel Gothe's obsession with my mother, the woman who had run away. Even though it hurt him, Agent Maxwell couldn't let Agent Yuy get too close. And Agent Yuy, for his part, understood that; he allowed my mentor the freedom to run when he had to.

And just like my mentor's need to keep some distance, I now had no doubt that there was some trauma that caused Agent Yuy's compulsion to constantly watch over Relena Peacecraft, just as he had done in the wars. I couldn't even begin to guess what it was, but I think I now understood what my mentor meant when he had said: _"Heero always comes back to me."_

Finally understanding the complexity of their relationship, I marveled at the strength of their bond. Even though it would be so much easier, so much less painful, to throw in the towel and just their cut their ties, deep down they understood the real reason for their pain and soldiered on. They called each other out on their bullshit, but gave each other the space and freedom to tackle their demons on their own. And when one was tackling their demons, the other always stood by on the sidelines, ready to lend a helping hand. They were the single constant to each other, the one who would always be patiently waiting until the other was ready to return home, ready to fight another day.

Looking back on it now, I understood why Maxine Lestelle had fixated on their relationship. She had been jealous, plain and simple. And I, like a naive fool, had taken her malicious and vindictive words as the truth.

"Goodnight Agent Yuy," I told the taciturn agent. "Even though it was only for a short time, it was a real honour to work in the same offices as you."

The dark-haired agent nodded. "Good luck in New York."

* * *

The airport was crowed as usual. And although the number of security personnel had increased, nothing much else had changed. It was as though the events that had transpired barely more than two weeks ago had never happened.

I had just picked up my duffle from the screening table and was on my way to my gate when I stopped dead in my tracks at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Hey kid!"

I turned to see an out of breath and dishevelled Agent Maxwell waving frantically at me from beyond the security checkpoint. Next to him was Agent Yuy, warding off security personnel with his Preventers badge and a glare.

"You give 'em hell in New York!" he shouted at me in a hoarse voice. "Yer not a rookie anymore, yer a full-fledged agent! So stand yer ground and don't take any shit from anybody. Ya hear me agent?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, willed back the tears that threatened to spill, stood tall and gave him my sharpest salute.

"Aye aye Captain!"

* * *

_AN:_ _And done! My first complete series ever! Hurrah! Now that this story is finally out of my system, I can get back to real life. And all the things I've been neglecting... I don't even know where to start (T.T)_

_And yes I know half of you (maybe more than half) are ready to pelt me with rotten tomatoes. I know, I know, I love a super happy ending just as much as anybody... but I'd decided on a bittersweet ending from the get go. Plus, if I didn't have to rookie move away, this story could have gone on for ages and ages..._

_Like I said at the beginning, I wanted this story to be more of a character study. The plot kinda took over at points, but all in all, I think I hit all the basic notes I wanted to. I've always thought that there was no way those pilots survived the wars without some serious emotional baggage. (and I hate perfect characters... no realism whatsoever). So what I wanted to do was have a character that completely idolized the pilots, but then through interaction when them, realize that they were just as human as he is. And then, even though their flaws are exposed, he continues to idolize them. :P _

_I know not all the loose ends got tied up, but that was intentional. After all, this is from the POV of an unnamed rookie, and it's not realisitic that he'd have all the answers. Still, I hope I answered enough to leave you satisfied with the story. _

_To those who were anticipating some big romantic scene where Heero lays a big sloppy one on Duo or vice versa, sorry! It just didn't seem realistic that those two would engage in heavy PDA. And it's just not realistic to have the rookie as some voyeur to some big smutty scene. Plus, I don't write smut. I'd be horrible at it. But you can read between the lines right? Or just imagine whatever scene it is that you wanted... _

_Anyways, enough of my ramblings. Thank you thank you thank you for reading until the end. And thank you thank you thank you for all the reivews. They were the crack that fueled me during all those late nights I spent writing. _

_Oh, and just one more thing. I'm planning a companion piece to this story. It won't be a sequel per se, some of the events will intertwine, and it will be in the same vein. And yes all the pilots will be present. And yes, the rookie might just make a cameo! But it won't be for a month at least. I'm banning myself from writing stories until May. So cheers and hopefully I'll see you all then! Muah! 3_


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